DoubleDragon to breach 5,000-room target with Cebu airport hotel

MANILA, Philippines – Real estate firm DoubleDragon Properties Corporation will breach its hotel portfolio target of 5,000 rooms after its subsidiary Hotel of Asia signed a joint venture with U-Bix Group’s Federated Realty Corporation.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, March 25, DoubleDragon said the joint venture will develop the 514-room Hotel101-Cebu, which is expected to become the biggest airport hotel in the Visayas.

Hotel101-Cebu will be built along the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Road. Covering 5,493 square meters (sqm), it will be complemented by a convention center and commercial strip.

The target date of completion has yet to be announced.

Counting DoubleDragon’s other hotel chains, the company would have a total of 5,082 rooms once its Cebu hotel is completed. DoubleDragon also operates Jinjiang Inn, Skysuites, and Ascott-DD Meridian Park.

This also brings to 6 the number of Hotel101 projects which will pre-sell this year in key tourism and urban areas in the country, including Bohol, Boracay, Cebu, Davao, Palawan, and the Fort.

DoubleDragon chairman Edgar “Injap” Sia II said in the disclosure that they believe the Philippines will surpass 10 million tourist arrivals annually “very soon.” (READ: Philippines breaks tourism record in 2018 despite Boracay closure)

DoubleDragon chief investment officer Hannah Yulo added that “as hotel room rates and occupancy increase over time, both Hotel101 and its unit owners are positioned to continuously gain financial benefit from their real estate investment.”

With the Cebu project’s P2.33 billion in unit inventory, DoubleDragon’s unit inventory has gone up to P14.53 billion. The company expects to sell out within two years.

By 2020, DoubleDragon aims to reach 1.2 million sqm, the bulk of which would come from its Citymall chain. – Rappler.com