DEV’T AGREEMENT. Radisson Hotel Group and SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) executives sign a master development agreement to reach 20 Park Inn by Radisson hotels in the Philippines by 2028, at Park Inn by Radisson in Quezon City on Wednesday (April 26, 2023). Signing the agreement were (from left) Radisson Hotel Group chief development officer for Asia Pacific Ramzy Fenianos and chief executive officer Federico Gonzáles, and SMHCC's chair and president Elizabeth Sy and executive vice president Peggy Angeles. (PNA photo by Kris M. Crismundo)
MANILA – Banking on the growth of the tourism sector and Filipino consumers’ spending, SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) will be spending PHP15 billion to build 14 new hotels under the Radisson brand in the next five years.
SMHCC chair and president Elizabeth Sy and executive vice president Peggy Angeles, and Radisson Hotel Group chief executive officer Federico Gonzáles and chief development officer for the Asia Pacific Ramzy Fenianos signed the master development agreement in Quezon City on Wednesday.
Under the new deal, the Radisson Hotel Group would give SMHCC the exclusive right to build and integrate Park Inn by the Radisson hotel brand with SM property developments nationwide.
Angeles said the new Park Inn by Radisson hotels to be built in the next five years would be mostly outside Metro Manila to bring more economic activities to the provinces.
She cited that some of the new hotels to be integrated with SM property developments would be located in Isabela, Olongapo, Laoag, Dasmarinas, Sta. Rosa, and Fairview, among others.
By 2028, the partnership targets to reach 20 Park Inn by Radisson hotels across the country.
The first Park Inn by Radisson in the country, which was built in 2013 in Davao City, is also the first in the Asia Pacific.
The hotel brand is also now present in Bacolod City, Clark, Iloilo City, and Quezon City.
The SMHCC and Radisson Hotel Groups are developing 516-room dual-branded property in Cebu under the Radisson and Park Inn Radisson brands.
“We're really very glad that at the second quarter of last year, all of its travel restrictions and borders have opened. You know that demand for travels have actually zoomed all the way up. And so, as far as the hotels are concerned, we're happy to say that occupancy levels are very much up there already,” Angeles said.
She said the occupancy rates of SMHCC hotels have surpassed the pre-pandemic level.
She added that 48 percent of the hotels under the SMHCC are Park Inn by Radisson brand.
Angeles said with the increasing number of flights and the appetite of local and international travelers to go on trips, demand for a quality accommodation would further increase.
Gonzáles, meanwhile, said he sees many untapped potentials for Radisson Hotel Groups in the Philippines.
“The country has its own beauty that is known internationally by the quality of your people, the quality of the spirit of welcoming, the quality of service of your people, and that’s something we need to share with the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, Radisson Hotel Group Southeast Asia and Pacific area senior vice president Andre de Jong said with the additional 2,500 rooms for the 14 new hotels, the projects would generate about 1,250 jobs for Filipinos. (PNA)
