THE Wyndham Hotel Group will be expanding its network of accommodations in the Philippines by introducing three more brands over three years.
In an interview with select media, Barry Robinson, president and managing director of the Wyndham Hotel Group Southeast Asia and Pacific Rim said: “We’ll have at least six brands in the Philippines in the next three years…so there could be Microtel, TRYP by Wyndham, Days Inn, Ramada and Wyndham [Hotels and Resorts]. Maybe, we’ll also have Ramada Encore or Dolce or Super 8.” He said this is the hotel group’s bid to hit all market segments in the Philippines.
Speaking on the sidelines of last Thursday’s formal launch of TRYP Manila, Wyndham’s latest property in partnership with the Phinma Microtel Hotels Inc., Robinson added: “Ramada is coming back; we don’t have a partner, that’s independent. So we’re going independent with whoever— individual developers, owners.” He also said the hotel group, was “going to reinvent Days Inn,” which used to have a chain of hotels in the
country, as well.
Asked about the location of the hotel group’s new properties, he said: “We’ve got two down in Boracay, two Wyndhams in negotiation with, or just finalized, and we’ve got some properties opening up here in Manila, I can’t tell you the location yet.” Robinson added that the first Ramada is set to open “before the end of the year,” but couldn’t go into specifics about the number of rooms.
Ramada Manila along Quintin Paredes Street in Binondo has been open since 2012, but it was then still managed by another hospitality group until the property was taken over by the Wyndham Hotel Group.
Wyndham Worldwide is the largest hospitality company in the world, with some 9,000 hotels in 80 countries, and accounting for some 900,000 rooms under 20 different brands, including its latest acquisition, La Quinta. In the Philippines the group has partnered with the Phinma Microtel for Microtel Hotels and TRYP by Wyndham; the latter’s first
property is in One Esplenade, in the Mall of Asia complex.
Jose Mari del Rosario, president of Phima Microtel, told the BusinessMirror that his group is committed to open “eight TRYPs in 10 years,” with locations in Cebu, Batangas, among others. He said there would be “possibly two” TRYPs in Cebu, while the Batangas property will be a “resort location.”
He said the number of rooms for these other TRYPs can vary; “it’s what the market can take. Up to 300 keys is doable.” TRYP Manila has 191 rooms, and is geared toward young, modern travelers.
TRYP Manila property has “a restaurant, meeting rooms, rooftop pool, fitness center and concierge. It also offers specialty guest room types, like Family Rooms with bunk beds for young families traveling with children; Fitness Rooms complete with exercise equipment; and a media room, which features high-tech multimedia to create and interactive, entertaining atmosphere,” he added.
Del Rosario stressed that TRYP is a timely brand to launch, as “young, urban travelers make up a substantial portion of today’s hotel guests. Launching an urban hotel brand, such as TRYP, would allow us to provide what our modern travelers look for—local experience, value for their money and reliable Wi-fi.”
He noted TRYP is in “exciting cities,” like Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, New York, São Paulo and Brisbane. “It appeals to modern travelers who seek new experiences and spend time discovering the city and immersing in the
local culture.”
Asked about the timing of TRYP Manila’s launch—at a time when negative perceptions about the Philippines exist—the veteran hotelier said: “I’m used to launching concepts in times of adversity. We were in the midst of the Asian crisis [when we opened the first Microtel], then followed by the Estrada years, after a good streak with ‘Steady Eddie’ Fidel V. Ramos…. Notwithstanding negative perceptions, I’ve learned from the lessons of the Chinese taipans like Henry Sy, John Gokongwei, etc., that they become even more aggressive during times of seeming adversity—negative political perceptions don’t bother them.”
This was echoed by Robinson, who said “there’s nothing fundamentally that’s really changed [in the Philippines over the years]. If anything, security’s actually better and so, therefore, should be better for tourism, but the perception’s not getting out there.” The hotel group has had a 20-year relationship with Phinma Microtels.
Adding that the hotel group has set up shop in Clark, he underscored that “we’re still focused here. We haven’t seen any issues that are making us nervous about the marketplace down here.”
The hotel group has established Wyndham Services Asia Pacific (Philippines) Inc. in the Clark Freeport in Pampanga, has about “200 employees in a variety of services, [such as] public relations, copyright designers, IT [information technology], finance and reservations” among others, Robinson said.
A listed firm, the Wyndham Hotel Group is a unit of Wyndham Worldwide headquartered in New Jersey, and which reported a profit of $570 million in 2017. It projects its profit to rise by 25 percent in 2018 between $702 million and $717 million.