Gaming hotel industries to get a boost from growth in tourism

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s gaming and hotel industries are expected to get a big boost from the steady growth of the tourism sector.

In its Philippine Real Estate Market Insight for the fourth quarter of 2016, Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services Inc., said tourist arrivals likely reached the six million mark by the end of last year.

“This is a very good news to the operators of more than 20,000 deluxe hotel rooms in Metro Manila,” the property consultancy firm said in its report.

Okada Manila, the 44-hectare integrated casino resort by Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada is the latest to open inside the Entertainment City of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

The SM Group also opened its five-star Conrad Hotel in the SM Mall of Asia complex as operated by the Hilton Group. This 347-room hotel sits on top of the two-floor high-end S Maison mall.

Pinnacle said the new hotels would be able to hitch a ride on the growing tourist arrivals in the country.

“Even Vista Land Group joined the hotel bandwagon. It intends to open six hotels under the Mella Brand soon. This is a three-four star brand, with an ideal size of 150-room hotel development,” Pinnacle said.

Incentives for companies operating inside tourism enterprise zones would also strengthen tourism-related industries, Pinnacle also said in its report.

“More importantly, the government through the Department of Tourism (DOT) and its attached agency Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) have been promoting Philippine tourism and ancillary infrastructures.

Recently, BIR Revenue Regulations No. 7-2016 was signed and published, spelling out the fiscal incentives that can be given to firms operating inside tourism enterprise zones (TEZs) under the Tourism Act of 2009. This will further boost the development of tourism infrastructure and facilities around the Philippines,” it said.

Citing data from the Department of Tourism, Pinnacle said total visitor arrivals from January to August 2016 reached 4.04 million, registering an increase of 12.59 percent for the same period in 2015 and at a pace to reach the six-million tourist arrival target.

Meanwhile, for the condominium sector, Pinnacle said this continues to grow.

Manila City condominium projects that were launched from 2009 to 2015, for instance, reached over 20,000 units.

Similarly, Quezon City condominium projects for the same period breached the 40,000 unit-mark.

Similarly, the commercial retail malls also went on with their usual way of generating income.

“Pinnacle Research monitored that the SM Group has 58 malls and are targeted to reach the 60-mall mark in the very near future, while the Robinsons Group has 42 malls. The Cosco/Puregold Group has 40 big stores,” it said.

Occupancy of malls has always been healthy especially during the Christmas holidays when every bit of commercial space are leased out to take advantage of the shoppers’ propensity to spend.

“Commercial mall rents have been very stable, and this property segment is still a landlord’s market,” Pinnacle said.