THE return of business travelers has helped lift the revenues of Joy-Nostalg Hotel and Suites Manila, which is managed by AccorHotels, a leading international hospitality chain.
While she declined to disclose the property’s operational figures, Joy-Nostalg general manager Odette Huang told the BusinessMirror that 2023 “was a really very good year. Suffice to say, we have surpassed 2019 levels, and we have generated revenues that have been one of the highest, if not the highest in the existence of the hotel.” The hotel is owned by Rebisco and Asia United Bank’s Jacinto Ng under his Quantuvis Resources Corp. and opened in 2009 as Oakwood Premier.
Known as a serviced apartment favored by long-staying foreign expatriates, the pet-friendly property benefited from the return of regional travel. Businesses went into expansion mode, and “started reviving their business relationships. So business travel happened again. And more importantly, meetings were conducted again. People realized that face-to-face encounters are very important in this part of the world. People feel that there is a need to visit their offices in the region [and] speak to their staff.”
She added that more companies also began sending new staff to the Philippines for longer stays, which accounts for 40 percent of the hotel’s market. “So we have the transient guests who are here for short business trips, and then the long-stay businesses, the one that keeps us afloat and in a sense, it doesn’t make us as volatile because it gives us a very good base business.”
However, Huang admitted it was still difficult to predict when the 229-room property will return to profitability due to events beyond their control. “We’re still working on the profitability because obviously, because of the pandemic, surge of prices, the pandemic, and now the wars. At the end of the day, we just have to be able to ensure that we are efficient in terms of our managing our expenses, efficient in terms of our operations, so that we will be able to achieve a healthy profit level.”
Sustainability ethos
While most hotels in the country, especially in Metro Manila, have already returned to their pre-pandemic room rates and revenues, the slow influx in international travelers has kept most properties’ bottomline from returning to black. (See, “International tourists vital to hotels’ full recovery,” in the BusinessMiror, July 21, 2023.)
This where Accor’s sustainability ethos comes in, as sourcing local produce, for instance, also helps Joy-Nostalg manage its costs. “Going local is the way to go,” she said, citing the use of Baguio strawberries in the hotel’s desserts, for instance. But more than that, being sustainable supports the community and the environment, she underscored.
While the hotel industry continues to grapple with a shortage in manpower, Huang maintained it is an issue that the industry has to contend with as many Filipinos go abroad to look for better-paying jobs. “I look at it that way, as long as we’re able to give you the best of what they can do when they are with us, I think we’ve done our good share. But if they do decide to go overseas and spread their wings, what is good with Accor is that we have lost some of our talents to our sister-hotels in other countries. At least they’re growing within the company and the opportunities are there if they decide they want to be [out] there… or decide to come home.”
Accor currently operates eight hotels with 2,500 rooms in the Philippines, with 13 new properties (2,588 rooms) scheduled to open in the next four years. These include Sofitel Cebu City (194 keys), Novotel Cebu Mactan Resort (195 keys), Mercure Clark (228 keys), and ibis Styles Manila Araneta Center (286 keys).
Image credits: facebook.com/JoyNostalgManila