DoubleDragon breaks ground for Niseko hotel

MANILA, Philippines — Tycoons Edgar “Injap” Sia II and Tony Tan Caktiong recently broke ground on DoubleDragon Corp.‘s 1.17-hectare Hotel101-Niseko project in Hokkaido Japan.

Hotel101 is the first ever Filipino homegrown hotel chain to expand in other countries outside the Philippines.

The two tycoons, who co-chair DoubleDragon, were in Japan for the groundbreaking ceremony for Hotel101-Niseko last Aug. 26. They were joined by Niseko Mayor Kenya Katayama and Kutchan Hokkaido Mayor Kazushi Monji.

The hotel will have 482 signature HappyRooms that aim to provide convenience and accessibility to all types of travelers to the resort destination of Niseko.

The upcoming hotel will rise in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan and is expected to be patronized by domestic travelers and foreign tourists from other countries.

The extension of the Shinkansen bullet train to Niseko and Sapporo will further improve access to the region which is also reported to be in the running to host the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Because of its northern location, Niseko is internationally renowned for its light powder snow and a long ski season that stretches from November until May. Hokkaido is the northmost island of Japan.

During the summer, Hokkaido stays cool with average temperatures of about 20 degrees Celsius and is also famous for its nature scenes, hot springs, and panoramic flower fields during summer.

DoubleDragon tapped Iwata Chizaki Inc, one of the largest contractors in Japan, as the contractor for Hotel101-Niseko. It is the same contractor who built the Chitose International Airport in Saporro, Hokkaido Japan.

Singapore registered Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd. (Hotel101 Global), is the hotel expansion subsidiary of DoubleDragon.

Aside from Hotel101-Niseko, the company is also targeting to expand in Madrid, Spain and California.

Moving forward, DoubleDrgaon targets to list its subsidiary Hotel101 Global at NASDAQ. Hotel101 Global expects to derive over 95 percent of its revenues outside the Philippines.

In all, Hotel101 Global’s near term expansion roadmap is to be in 25 countries by 2026.

These are Philippines, Japan, Spain, USA, United Kingdom, UAE, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France and China.

Aside from hotel operations, DoubleDragon is also into office leasing with its Jollibee Tower and DD Meridian Park complex; mall operations through CityMall community centers; and industrial warehouse leasing through CentralHub industrial warehouse complexes.