Philippines: Developer Cebu Landmasters Inc (CLI) has announced it will partner with The Ascott Ltd on projects in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Jose Soberano III, Cebu Landmasters CEO, said the company sees many opportunities for collaboration between the two firms given a projected growth in tourist arrivals and the need for additional capacity.
“In terms of tourist arrival, the Philippines pales in comparison with our Asean neighbors,” Soberano said, citing Thailand and Malaysia as examples. The Philippines had less than seven million tourists in 2018. Thailand reported over 38 million tourists in 2018, while Malaysia had more than 25 million tourists.
“Even a place like Bali had about the same number of tourists as our national level. We see many opportunities where we can take advantage of this and will make this part of our growth strategy-especially as a means to boost the recurring business of our revenue base,” Soberano said.
“We are now Ascott’s biggest owner-developer partner in the Philippines,” CLI’s senior vice-president and COO Jose Franco Soberano said.
Both companies entered into a partnership agreement for Citadines Cebu, Davao and Bacolod, lyf in Cebu and are exploring other potential areas in the VisMin area.
“CLI is building more projects in Gensan, Butuan and Ormoc this year. We will also naturally explore the need for hotels in these areas,” Franco Soberano said.
At present, CLI has 800 rooms that will be managed by Ascott, but the company plans to double the number of rooms by 2022.
Their first project together which will open this summer, the Citadines Cebu City.</p
