Shangri-La's Mactan looks forward to the future

When Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa turned a year older recently, it actually marked a decade and a half of remarkable accomplishments. Since it opened in Cebu in October 1993, it has gained various awards from international institutions no less such as AsiaMoney, Business Traveller, Conde Nast, HotelClub.com, Smart Travel Asia, Time Magazine, Travel Weekly and Zagat World’s Top Hotels, Resorts and Spas. Its most recent recognition was the “ASEAN Green Hotel Standard” award at the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2008 held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Being a well-established brand synonymous with deluxe hotel accommodation, food and service, continuing expansion and enhancement to meet if not transcend industry standards is the key factor why Shangri-La has remained the premier resort in the country’s hospitality industry.

It was only last year that Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort debuted its multimillion-dollar renovation, coinciding with the hotel’s impressive hosting of its most prestigious event to date, the 14th ASEAN Summit. The massive redevelopment included the renovation of its 188-room luxurious Ocean Wing, and the building of the Marquee, a fully air-conditioned tent that can accommodate close to 1,000 guests, among others.

Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa general manager Raymond Bragg revealed to The Philippine STAR that as they take a great deal of pride in what they have accomplished over the past 15 years, Shangri-La’s Mactan will continue to advance within its competitive set and raise the bar on the kind of hospitality experience that it delivers. “It’s nice to celebrate milestones and recognitions, but what’s more important is how you protect and continue that tradition,” says Bragg. 

And sustain it is through forthcoming developments next year, noteworthy of which is the plan to maximize a still undeveloped area of the sprawling hotel property to translate the new concept of a hotel within the hotel. “This is a concept wherein the guests of the area are the only guests. There has always been a market demand for this kind of set-up, particularly those looking for that very private time and area for themselves, while getting to enjoy the traditional features of the resort,” says Bragg.

Part of the blueprint is also extending its range of facilities to include additional rooms, a new pool and a restaurant to further diversify the dining experiences. “We’re also putting in new chefs for new menus for our outlets,” Bragg says.

But more than just carrying out these physical and aesthetic improvements, the resort will reinforce efforts toward corporate social responsibility. “We’re strengthening our CSR component big time. Part of this is we’re going increasingly eco-friendly. For one, we are going away from using pesticides and chemicals, and we are going natural and organic in looking after the greenery of the resort,” he says.

Shangri-La’s Mactan, according to Bragg, will also develop its own composting system, implement a tree-planting program and introduce “green” meetings for its business guests to encourage less wastage of paper, water, energy and the like.

What leisure guests should also look forward to are the educational and eco-activities at Shangri-La’s Mactan like bird-watching (“We’ve already identified 15 birds in the resort,” notes Bragg) and fish-feeding at its own marine sanctuary, which spans five hectares from the resort’s beachfront.

To complement its existing marine sanctuary, the stewardship duties of which are shared with local groups, Shangri-La’s Mactan is currently working on its eco-center, a truly pioneering endeavor by any other hotel or resort in the country. More than just offering recreational appeal, Bragg says, that through the eco-center they hope to educate guests not just on taking care of the environment, but also on the culture of the local community.

Through the years, Shangri-La’s Mactan has contributed considerably to Cebu’s tourism growth as well as to its position and reputation in the world tourism map by being a choice destination not just for visitors looking for first-rate travel experiences to this southern metropolis, but also for high-profile and international gatherings outside Metro Manila.

But even with this level of patronage, it’s not resting on its laurels. In fact, Shangri-La’s Mactan is also bracing itself for the full impact of the global crisis, adding that they’ll face it by forcing change and improvement, becoming very flexible and turning more aggressive in exploring opportunities and tapping new markets in the coming months.

Bragg, a New Zealander who’s happily settled in Cebu with his wife and daughter after coming on board to helm Shangri-La’s Mactan in the first quarter of this year, further shares: “2008 has been a good year. It was a stable year and more or less the same as 2007 in terms of occupancy. And it has been in 2008 that we were able to consolidate all of our businesses. So, we’re really looking forward to the future, which is why we will continue investing, improving and adding new things to our product.”

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Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa is located in Punta Engano Road, Lapu-Lapu City. For inquiries or reservations, call (63-32) 231-0288 or (63 32) 231-1688, or log on to www.shangri-la.com.