Quality and price

After watching the movie Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts years ago, I had the urge to see how the Beverly Wilshire Hotel looked like. In the movie it looked grand, luxurious and big but when I entered the lobby of the hotel and saw it for myself, I was disappointed. I told myself that the hotels in the Philippines look more majestic and magnificent. I actually felt good and said, “There is hope for our country.” This is what this column is all about.

The Philippines is indeed getting its fair share of famous and classy hotels. The country has been busy constructing hotels and resorts left and right. STR Global, which tracks down hotel development in the pipeline, notes in its report update for October 2012, that in the Asia-Pacific region, Manila, next to New Delhi (India), registered the highest expected hotel-room growth at 34.8 percent, or the equivalent of 7, 486 new rooms in the pipeline.

Some of these hotels are: The Grand Hyatt Manila at Bonifacio Global City expected to be completed in 2015; Manila Bay Resorts at the Entertainment City in 2014; Movenpick Hotel Manila in Makati in 2016; Novotel Manila at the Araneta Center in 2014; Radisson Hotel at the Manila Bay City in 2014; Resorts World Bayshore at the Entertainment City in 2014; The Savoy Hotel at Newport City in 2016; and The Shangri-La Hotel at the Fort, Bonifacio Global City in 2014.

This year we are looking forward to the opening of Holiday Inn and Suites in Makati; Marco Polo Ortigas; Solaire Manila at the Entertainment City; The Belle Grande Manila Bay; and World Hotel and Residences in Makati.

The Philippines is also proud that the Makati Shangri-La hotel lobby ranked 22 in Conde Nast Traveler’s 2012 Gold List of Gorgeous Hotel Lobbies.

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Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez during his speech in the grand opening night of Fairmont Raffles Hotels in Makati last Thursday said, “It’s okay to be high-priced. Just make sure you are worth the premium. If you aren’t worth the premium, drop your price or upgrade your offering. That is all there is to it…quality is always the sound basis for pricing.” And as he officially welcomed Fairmont Raffles Hotels in the country, he said, “The two brands we welcome to the Philippines today are exemplars of the very comfortable fit between QUALITY and PRICE…As you would expect, the arrival of these two premium brands was made possible by the same people, the Ayala Group, that envisioned the rise of this city, Makati, the pride of urban development in the Philippines. With Raffles and Fairmont, they have made yet another astute business decision. Yes, some people know how to be worth the premium. And the same people know that quality is not the objective. Quality is the strategy. Our special devotion to quality will be the key to tourism growth for the Philippines. I’ve said it before, I will say it again: Building demand is the easy part of our job. The hard part is to be worth the trip. To be worth the attention, to be worth the price.”

Raffles Hotel was first established in 1887 by two Armenian brothers from Persia, Martin and Tigran Sarkies in Singapore. It has kept the colonial splendor of the era making it a landmark in Singapore. In fact, in 1987 the Singapore government declared the hotel a National Monument. The hotel preserves its heritage and traditions in all its hotels around the world with the pieces of furniture and fixtures carefully placed in the lobby and restaurants not to mention the presence of the Long Bar where the Singapore Sling (a cocktail drink) was originally concocted. For writers, this place brings nostalgia and reminds us of the heydays of Hemingway, Kipling and other great poets who have stayed and written great stories in this hotel.

Fairmont is known in Canada for its famous historic hotels and resorts. This hotel was first established in San Francisco in the 1900s. In 1960, it began developing a small chain of luxury hotels in major cities across the United States and around the world — making them a global hotel leader.

In the Philippines, Fairmont Raffles Hotel is a 30-story tower with 32 all-suite Raffles Makati, a 280-room Fairmont Makati, and 237 Raffles Residences. It is a new concept of having two hotels in one property. By the way, the Raffles Residences are comprised of one to four bedroom apartments. It offers residential accommodations for short or long-term stays.

Yes, this may sound like a plug but in retrospect I am just supporting the Philippine economy and the success of these hotels.

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The Philippine market has truly become more attractive to investors. As proof that businesses are booming and the government is fiscally strong, Motoo Konishi, World Bank’s Country Director for Central Asia has commended the country’s economic gains after expanding 6.6 percent in 2012.

He said, there is a consensus that the Philippines is no longer the “sick man of Asia” but a “rising tiger,” citing the government’s macroeconomic stability, the government’s “sound and improving” fiscal situation, its improved transparency and fight against corruption.

However, we should not rest on these laurels. There are still things that need to be done to sustain the capability of the country to move on towards progress and regain greatness in status. The government should seriously take into consideration the recommendations of the stakeholders as enumerated by Mr. Konishi. These are economic development, human development and poverty reduction, justice and peace, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and governance and anti-corruption.

For economic development, the stakeholders stressed the need to ensure the creation of quality jobs especially in the area of agriculture and tourism; simplify business regulations; reduce barriers to entry in shipping; improve infrastructure and power especially in Mindanao; and pass measures such as the fiscal incentives bill.

For human development and poverty reduction, the stakeholders recommended the expansion and improvement of access to government programs in health, education, livelihood, and social protection, with added focus on special disadvantaged groups such as the out-of-school youth, indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities.

For justice and peace, the forum cited the need to restore trust in the justice system reduce case backlogs, addressing corruption in the judiciary, and supporting community-based traditional systems of justice such as the Shari’a.

The call to fast-track the vulnerability and risk assessment to mitigate the effects of climate change and disasters were also given importance.

For governance and anti-corruption, stakeholders recommended that the monitoring and evaluation of government performance be strengthened and give added focus on governance reform in Mindanao.