HOTEL operator Waterfront Philippines Inc. (WPI) is preparing for a cascade of benefits after the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Building formally opens.
“We’re seeing a soaring tourism, especially in Cebu. And we’ll capitalize on this growth,” WPI President Kenneth T. Gatchalian told reporters on Tuesday at the the Manila Pavilion, a hotel WPI bought in 2004.
Gatchalian told the BusinessMirror that believes the same level would be reached in Davao if the Francisco Bangoy International Airport reaches the same scale of Cebu’s tourism sector.
“We were affected by the events, the uncertainties brought by the insurgency attacks in Davao and, of course, Marawi has an effect,” Gatchalian said. “There was a huge jump in people going to Davao in the first quarter, around 19 percent. But this has gone down in June.”
As such, Gatchalian said the company will spend P1.3 billion to renovate its three hotels.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, WPI said its board of directors approved on August 7 the renovation programs of the Waterfront Cebu City Casino Hotel with P400 million, the Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino Mactan with P450 million and Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao with P450 million. WPI’s directors said the amount would be “funded via a combination of internal funds, debt notes and/or the issuance of unsubscribed common shares under a private placement”.
However, Gatchalian told reporters that the bulk of the funds would be internally generated.
“It was really a big part of our plan before to expand,” he said. “But with the competition offered by integrated resorts and casinos, we’ll focus on renovation and retrofitting first.”
According to Gatchalian, WPI began renovating the Manila Pavilion three years ago, shutting down more than half of the 3-star hotel’s 550 rooms.
“We have to do that so we can really put in the latest plumbing, technologies,” he said, noting that all other rooms in the other hotels, which are all 4-starred, are for sale: 561 of Waterfront Cebu City Casino Hotel, 161 of the Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino Mactan and 150 of the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.
“We have to undertake renovation to have elbow room to adjust our prices,” Gatchalian added.