MANILA, Philippines — Cebu is expected to see a more pronounced development of hotels and resort-oriented condominiums over the next three to six years driven by the growth of its tourism sector and fueled by its improving road infrastructure network complementing the expanded airport, a property services firm said.
“The completion of the second terminal of Mactan-Cebu International Airport(MCIA) should boost Cebu’s attractiveness as a tourist destination,” Colliers International said in a report.
The report said the opening of the new terminal also comes at an opportune time given the national government’s decision to close Boracay for six months to allow for the rehabilitation of the island.
In 2017, Cebu registered an estimated 4.9 million foreign and domestic arrivals, which sustained hotel occupancy of 78 percent, higher than the 70 percent occupancy in 2016.
The Cebu hotel market is projected to post an occupancy between 70 to 75 percent over the next 12 to 36 months, which will be sustained by the MCIA.
“Colliers believes that aside from the influx of local and foreign tourists, the demand for more leisure investments such as hotels and serviced residences should be fuelled by Cebu’s thriving outsourcing and industrial sectors,” Colliers said.
Aside from developing leisure estates, Colliers said local and national developers could capture opportunities in the booming Cebu tourism sector by bringing in more foreign brands and building more hotels along the nodes of new road infrastructure projects.
It added that existing hotels should improve loyalty programs, expand meeting facilities, and consider integrating health and retirement facilities.
“Colliers believes Cebu has the potential to be at par with neighboring destinations such as Bali and Phuket in terms of hotel and resort development,” the property services firm said.
At present, Cebu only has a fifth of Bali and Phuket’s room count with only 10,600 rooms compared to Bali’s 50,000 rooms and Phuket’s 47,475 rooms.
“But we see Cebu becoming a major leisure investment destination in the region given its improving infrastructure backbone and sustainability of traditional demand drivers such as outsourcing and industrial operations,”Colliers added.
The property services firm identified a number of national developers that are expected to benefit from Cebu’s thriving leisure sector. Among these are the Udenna Group, Filinvest, Ayala Land, Rockwell Land, Megaworld, Robinsons Land and SM Prime.
“The tourism demand drivers in Cebu compel national and local hotel developers to either bring in foreign hotel operators or maximize homegrown hospitality brands,” Colliers said.
It added that a number of local developers such as Cebu Landmasters, Grand Land, Tanchan Corporate Group and AppleOne Properties have already teamed up with international brands.
“Leisure investors in Cebu have been successful in employing these strategies and we see the continued implementation of these plans moving forward,” Colliers said.
Aside from the modernized and expanded airport, Colliers said Cebu’s tourism sector is also expected to surge due to a number of infrastructure projects which should open opportunities in the countryside.
Among these projects are the Cebu-Cordova bridge, Metro Cebu Expressway, Cebu-Negros Link Bridge, Cebu-Bohol Link Bridge, and the Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) system.
“The completion of these projects should spur demand for more accommodation facilities outside of the Metro Cebu corridor,” Colliers said.