Zen Rooms moving HQ to Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Budget and mid-range hotel franchise firm Zen Rooms is moving its operational headquarters to the Philippines as part of its expansion in Southeast Asia.

“We are placing the heart of our company in one of the most hospitable nations in the world,” Zen Rooms co-founder Nathan Boublil said.

“By having our operational headquarters in the Philippines, we believe we can build the strongest hospitality team in the region,” he said as he noted the country’s growing economy and potential for innovation.

The company wants to further disrupt the country’s accommodation market by solving issues related to its inefficiencies, such as high prices, low safety and poor maintenance.

“We want to transform the Philippines accommodation market with our technological and operational solutions to improve its safety and value-for-money. By using this market as a base to trial market-leading technologies, we can successfully scale them across the region.” Boublil said.

Zen cited the country’s young demographics as another factor that is attractive about the country.

“ZEN’s shift to the Philippines will offer a boost to the local economy and its people. With a median age of 23, the country has a large and growing young population with high literacy levels, making it one of Asia’s premier labor markets,” the company said.

The company has already created 400 jobs in the country and is seen to create more in the future.

“We see so much potential in the country’s young generation as their creativity and optimism is what makes them stand out and it is absolutely admirable,” Boublil said.

Driven by the potential of the young generation, Boublil said the company launched Founders Philippines in September, which aims to provide a platform for like-minded people to meet, learn how to build their own business and find solutions to the problems they face on that journey.

“For a lot of people, ZEN is the starting point in their careers, with some eventually venturing out to open their own businesses, applying what they have learned from the company. “We are proud to see their success and keep supporting them along the way,” Boublil said.

Zen Rooms has also launched its Internal Hospitality School, which provides new career opportunities to its participants and graduates.

“There are many who started with us as junior housekeepers and today they manage full properties,” azBoublil said.

At present, Zen Rooms operates over 300 properties in 30 cities in the Philippines and 1,000 hotels across the region.

“With Zen’s operational headquarters here in the Philippines, we can only expect more growth towards the company’s goal of regional expansion, providing more opportunities for local talents and entrepreneurs along with safer and more affordable travel options for everyone,” the company said.