Major hotels, resorts confirm RP investments

Major hotels and resorts are rising across the Philippines, as the Department of Tourism (DoT) recently approved another $ 200 million worth of investments for the first quarter of 2007, in addition to the $ 2 billion already approved last year.

In his address during the Philippine Tourism Awards held early this month in Beijing, China, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano proudly announced that more foreign corporations have responded to the call of DoT to invest in hotel and resort facilities in the Philippines, specifically those that would cater to the Chinese market.

¡®¡¯There will be 3,000 additional hotel rooms available this year in Cebu, Bohol, Boracay and Palawan, of which 1,000 will be in Cebu while the rest will be spread over the three other areas. In Metro Manila, more than 1,200 rooms will be available in the next few years,¡¯¡¯ Durano revealed.

The tourism chief enumerated at least seven major tourism investments that will be seen happening in the country in the next few months. Among them:

«¯ The Boracay Shangri-La Hotel and Resort, which will open in 2008;

«¯ The Imperial Waterpark Resort and Spa in Mactan, Cebu, a 616-room triple A class resort, which promises to bring state¨Cof¨Cthe¨Cart water park technology;

«¯ An eco-tourism real estate to be developed by SM Investments Corp., which kicked-off with the launch of the master plan for the Hamilo Coast in Batangas as a premier coastal residential and resort town;

«¯ The SMX, a new convention center at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City, which is set to open in October this year. Durano said SMX will be equally accessible to hotels that will rise at the SM Bay City, namely Carlson Hotels, Asia Pacific, and Accor;

«¯ The Manila Marriot Hotel which will see completion in 2009;

«¯ The Fairmont and Raffles which will construct a new hotel and condotel in Makati; and

«¯ The Metrobank Group which announced its plan to construct the country¡¯s tallest building which will house a five¨Cstar hotel in Fort Bonifacio Global City.

Durano assured that all these will be accessible through the access infrastructure being developed.

¡®¡¯This will ensure seamless travel within the archipelago. Most of these infrastructure projects will be developed in an area called the Central Philippine Super Region,¡¯¡¯ Durano said.