Century Properties foraying into hotels

MANILA, Philippines – Century Properties Group Inc. is looking to cash in on the growing tourism industry in the Philippines by going into the hotel business, said CEO Jose Antonio.

Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, April 5, Antonio said they would build hotels to expand their portfolio.

“If you look at the Thai economy, it has a population of 65 million with tourist arrivals of 22 million. Out of these 22 million 15 million comes to one island called Phuket. Vietnam has 6 million tourist arrivals. Here in the Philippines, we have tourist arrivals of 4.9 million, which is miniscule compared to our neighbors,” said Antonio at the event.

“It is an industry that trickles down to the last sector of society. We would like to participate in this industry in an active way,” he added.

Antonio said they are looking at developing 3- to 5-star hotels and forging partnerships with other hoteliers. Initially, he said the company would focus on the development side, then go into management.

The company would build one hotel in Manila, and another one with a resort outside the capital.

“We have a short list of locations and we are now qualifying them,” Antonio said.

While he did not go into further details, Antonio said announcements would likely be made by next year.

The tourism sector is expected to account for as much as 18% to 20% of the country’s total employment by 2016, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. earlier said.

The government targets 10 million international tourists by 2016. It has already exceeded its goal of 35.5 million local tourists last year. – Rappler.com