Injap Sia’s bet

Politics in the Philippines is like the rains – heavy, messy and impossibly noisy. Exhibit A: the Senate’s dizzying maneuvering on Tuesday night over the impeachment articles.

But that’s just one example. There have been many jaw-dropping moves in the past – threats to scrap a contract, plans to destroy the oligarchs and so much more.

For some businessmen, it’s hard to deal with the changing tides.

It’s no wonder that many of them are turning to other shores for expansion, instead of putting their eggs in just one basket that’s easily rocked by political storms.

Many conglomerates are already present abroad and continue to strengthen their businesses across the globe, like a long, flowing river finding its course.

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for instance, a handshake turned into negotiations, and negotiations turned into signatures. Tycoon Injap Sia II, with his team, recently signed a deal with their counterparts – Saudi Arabian businessmen donning red-and-white checkered ghutras or headscarves and seamless, flowing white robes called thobes.

“Another milestone,” Injap said, as he happily shared with me the news, along with a photo of the historic deal, all the way from Riyadh.

Injap’s Hotel101 Global signed a joint venture partnership agreement with the Horizon Group as the main partner for Hotel101’s expansion into the Kingdom.

What’s in the deal? The development of some 10,000 rooms, estimated to translate to $2.5 billion in project value, across an initial five locations in the famed kingdom of sun and sand – Medina, Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha and AlUla.

Who is the Horizon Group? It is a Saudi-headquartered investment company led by the brothers Khaled and Abdulrahman Sharbatly and Wael Daqal, with a focus on partnering and investing in Vision 2030 industries with international market leaders.

Having covered the capital markets group, I’ve seen the growth of Injap’s business through the years. I monitored how he successfully pivoted to bringing his hotel chain Hotel101 abroad.

The man who founded the phenomenal Mang Inasal has certainly come a long way.

His concept is ideal. Hotel101’s global “one room” hotel chain, with its identical, standardized hotel rooms, is efficient and streamlined. This means customers know exactly what to expect wherever they may be in the world.

Furthermore, Hotel101’s asset-light “condotel” business model is designed to scale efficiently while maximizing value for both unit owners and guests.

Injap expressed confidence in the plans they have laid out for the region.

“We believe the Hotel101 concept will be able to make a significant contribution in terms of room keys to complement the 2030 Vision for the Kingdom, and to form part of our global vision of one million Hotel101 rooms worldwide,” Injap said.

For his part, Horizon Group CEO Abdulrahman Sharbatly said the expansion in Saudi would create jobs and provide more options for pilgrims, tourists and business travelers alike.

In 2023, Saudi Arabia welcomed 27 million international tourists and 79 million domestic tourists, breaching the 100 million visitor mark, Hotel101 said.

This is in line with the target of reaching over 150 million tourists by 2030. This provides substantial opportunities in support services and infrastructure in areas such as hotels, shopping, F&B and transportation.

Spanish Grand Prix

Another update Injap shared with me is the news that Hotel101 Madrid has been officially designated as the official hotel accommodation partner for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix to be held in Madrid, Spain, from 2026 to 2035. That’s a 10-year agreement signed with MATCH Hospitality.

As a fan of F1, I was happy to hear about this, primarily because it puts a Filipino-owned hospitality brand on the racing map.

Hotel101 Madrid, located on a prime 6,593-square-meter site in Valdebebas in Madrid, is strategically positioned adjacent to the new F1 Spanish Grand Prix circuit, overlooking what is expected to be the iconic Valdebebas Curve.

It has 680 rooms and is targeted to become one of the top five largest hotels in Madrid, offering unparalleled accessibility and convenience for F1 fans, teams and stakeholders.

The partnership agreement bodes well for DoubleDragon’s Hotel101 as it would mean that the hotel will provide accommodation experiences for attendees of the 2026 F1 event and beyond.

The hotel is on track for completion in the fourth quarter of 2025, ensuring readiness for the inaugural Madrid Grand Prix in 2026.

At present, Hotel101 properties are under development in the Philippines, Japan, Spain and the United States, with the goal of operating one million rooms across 100 countries by 2050.

HBNB

As if all these positive developments aren’t enough, Hotel101 Global is slated to list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “HBNB,” making it the first Filipino-owned company to do so.

Injap is surely making a big bet abroad, pinning his hopes on global tourism growth and the success of the Hotel101 concept.

As for the rest of us, we can be proud whenever our businessmen wave the Philippine flag on distant shores.

For many of them, betting abroad feels less like a gamble than waiting for the political storms in the Philippines to pass.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X  @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.