Bluewater to operate new resort in Panglao
by: Rhia de Pablo
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The Freeman
Eyeing so much growth potential in the tourism industry of Central Visayas especially emerging key provinces Cebu and Bohol, resort operator Bluewater will be intensifying its operation through opening a new upscale resort at the Panglao Island and starting renovation works for their existing resorts in Mactan and Sumilon Islands.
Panglao Bluewater Beach Resort will start construction in the middle of this year as necessary permits from DENR, and other concerned agencies are still being acquired by the management, announced Maribago Bluewater General Manager Rhyz O. Buac in an interview.
The Panglao property is a 5.5 hectares lot which will accommodate 200 luxurious rooms following the same Filipino concept of the existing Bluewater resorts here in Cebu.
“We want our guests to feel the Filipino way of accommodation so we will be using native materials that will revolve around a Filipino theme,” said Buac.
Buac also discussed that the property in Panglao was bought last year and they are looking at procuring all necessary documents in six months time before they start construction.
As for their existing resort in the province, Buac revealed that this year they will also be renovating some rooms and amenities of Maribago while they will put up 12 additional rooms in Sumilon.
Maribago Bluewater in Mactan is considerably one of the first high-end resorts in the area and has started operation way back 1989 surviving several economic and political struggles. From 32 rooms, it now has expanded to accommodate 153 rooms, 50 of which are part of their Amuma wing where their authentic Filipino luxurious Amuma Spa is located.
“We will adopt a newer look for our rooms. We are undergoing this renovation as a strategy to cope up with the tougher competition,” said Buac.
But Buac discussed that they will still be preserving the Filipino concept for their accommodation and not compete with high-rise hotels around the area.
As for their 24-hectare Sumilon Bluewater Island Resort, Buac said that they will be adding four more rooms to its existing 12-room upscale accommodation before they hit the 36-room target.
“We are slowly getting on with the construction in Sumilon since materials are hard to transport in the island but we will be starting with the construction this May,” announced Buac.
With the influx of more resort industry investors and the intensified competition in this sector, Bluewater is optimistic to be able to maintain their client-base despite the fact that they are not an international resort chain unlike most of their competitors.
“It is hard to compete head-on with international hotels around the area but if we maintain our concept and focus on our own market base we will surely get through,” said Buac.
Bluewater operates under the umbrella of the Almont Hotels Inc. Group which has managing arms in the resort and hotel industry.
Bluewater group operates the company’s resort businesses composed of Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort in Mactan and Sumilon Bluewater Island Resort in Oslob while the Almont Group operates the four hotels in Mindanao located in Surigao and Butuan City.
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Monday, February 18, 2008
Business news
Aerial tours seen to boost tourism
By Rhia de Pablo
Monday, February 11, 2008
Thr Freeman
Answering the call made by Department of Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano on providing an alternative and wider array of tourism activities that will bolster the promotion of Cebu’s tourism, a private company has eyed to intensify the marketing of their aerial tours that will cater both to domestic and international tourists.
Optimistic with the huge potential of tapping the influx of both foreign and local tourists in Cebu, Aviatour, a full-service fixed base operator (FBO) in the general aviation industry that operates in the country’s central and southern islands is bent on intensifying the promotion of their sightseeing aerial tours.
“Tourists usually doesn’t have that much time to see all the beautiful sights in the country because of their limited stay, so we will do this kind of island hopping on the air to provide fresh prospective for the tourism industry,” said Aviatour executive vice-president for global sales and marketing Kenneth Roy Madrid in an exclusive interview with The Freeman.
Madrid discussed that the potential of operating aerial tours in a larger scale to better promote the tourism industry of the country and to generate an increase for our tourist arrivals has not yet been fully utilized here in Cebu.
“This activity is not yet being done in large scale so we are very positive and excited with it as we believe that it is still under- tapped. If we market this to even only a portion of 10% from Cebu’s total tourist arrivals we can capture a very big market,” said Madrid.
By targeting tourists coming from different Asian countries suck as Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong; Aviatour is keen on contributing a positive growth to the local economy as they will be primarily be focusing on providing tours along Cebu and its neighboring islands like Bohol.
“This is our way of doing our part in the promotion of tourism and making tourists see how beautiful the Philippines really is,” he added
Seeing a huge potential to gain better profit margins with this segment, Aviatour decided to expand it business in terms of breadth by intensifying on their sightseeing tour packages after they have gained a strong hold in their flight school operation in the previous years.
Right now, Aviatour is in close negotiation with various tour operators to include aerial sightseeing activities in the itinerary of their packaged tours.
Confident about the big opportunity ahead of them, Madrid pointed out that the “tourism industry here in Cebu is booming so there is a very big potential for this segment and since there is not yet much competition we can easily dominate in this area with our expertise, equipments and resources,” said Madrid.
Primary route and destination for the aerial tours include the Olango channel, the coastlines of Mactan Island and its nearby islands which will take about 30 minutes and will pass by famous hotel resorts of the Mactan Island then to the small islands of Hilutungan, Nalusuan, Olango, Cabul-an & Cuamen. Then another tour offering is the 45-minute aerial tour of the world famous Chocolate Hills.
When their aggressive promotion of their aerial tour packages kicks off this March, Madrid projects to gain a range of about P1 million to P3 million monthly income.
“The opportunity is there for us to take so we decided to take it. This is going to be big and we intend to be the number one player to dominate this segment,” stressed Madrid.
Aviatour has been in operation here in Cebu for almost three years now and aside from its Mactan base, they also hold offices in Manila and in the state of Texas in the United States.
By Rhia de Pablo
Monday, February 11, 2008
Thr Freeman
Answering the call made by Department of Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano on providing an alternative and wider array of tourism activities that will bolster the promotion of Cebu’s tourism, a private company has eyed to intensify the marketing of their aerial tours that will cater both to domestic and international tourists.
Optimistic with the huge potential of tapping the influx of both foreign and local tourists in Cebu, Aviatour, a full-service fixed base operator (FBO) in the general aviation industry that operates in the country’s central and southern islands is bent on intensifying the promotion of their sightseeing aerial tours.
“Tourists usually doesn’t have that much time to see all the beautiful sights in the country because of their limited stay, so we will do this kind of island hopping on the air to provide fresh prospective for the tourism industry,” said Aviatour executive vice-president for global sales and marketing Kenneth Roy Madrid in an exclusive interview with The Freeman.
Madrid discussed that the potential of operating aerial tours in a larger scale to better promote the tourism industry of the country and to generate an increase for our tourist arrivals has not yet been fully utilized here in Cebu.
“This activity is not yet being done in large scale so we are very positive and excited with it as we believe that it is still under- tapped. If we market this to even only a portion of 10% from Cebu’s total tourist arrivals we can capture a very big market,” said Madrid.
By targeting tourists coming from different Asian countries suck as Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong; Aviatour is keen on contributing a positive growth to the local economy as they will be primarily be focusing on providing tours along Cebu and its neighboring islands like Bohol.
“This is our way of doing our part in the promotion of tourism and making tourists see how beautiful the Philippines really is,” he added
Seeing a huge potential to gain better profit margins with this segment, Aviatour decided to expand it business in terms of breadth by intensifying on their sightseeing tour packages after they have gained a strong hold in their flight school operation in the previous years.
Right now, Aviatour is in close negotiation with various tour operators to include aerial sightseeing activities in the itinerary of their packaged tours.
Confident about the big opportunity ahead of them, Madrid pointed out that the “tourism industry here in Cebu is booming so there is a very big potential for this segment and since there is not yet much competition we can easily dominate in this area with our expertise, equipments and resources,” said Madrid.
Primary route and destination for the aerial tours include the Olango channel, the coastlines of Mactan Island and its nearby islands which will take about 30 minutes and will pass by famous hotel resorts of the Mactan Island then to the small islands of Hilutungan, Nalusuan, Olango, Cabul-an & Cuamen. Then another tour offering is the 45-minute aerial tour of the world famous Chocolate Hills.
When their aggressive promotion of their aerial tour packages kicks off this March, Madrid projects to gain a range of about P1 million to P3 million monthly income.
“The opportunity is there for us to take so we decided to take it. This is going to be big and we intend to be the number one player to dominate this segment,” stressed Madrid.
Aviatour has been in operation here in Cebu for almost three years now and aside from its Mactan base, they also hold offices in Manila and in the state of Texas in the United States.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Business News
SM soft opens P1.3B high-end Northwing
By: Rhia de Pablo
December 2, 2007
Catering to a different client-segment, SM City Cebu has recently soft-opened its awaited high-end annex called as the Northwing along with 48 locators, making it the largest SM mall in the Visayas region and the fourth largest SM mall in the country.
In an interview, SM Shopping Center Management Corp. president Annie Garcia said that the Northwing was styled in a spacious and classy way meant to attract a different market segment than the mall’s usual client-base.
“The market is evolving and they expect us to evolve with them so we did this to be attuned to their needs,” said Garcia.
About 57% of the Northwing’s development is still undergoing construction and by mid-December 70% from the 187 is expected to open according to Garcia and by early next year Northwing will be having its grand opening.
The SM Northwing has 107,049 square meters gross area that could occupy 187 leasable store outlets offering different products lines from books, accessories, clothes, shoes, food and many more. It has seven floors including the basement and a parking lot that can accommodate to about 2, 000 cars. It will have an al fresco dining setting at its rooftop area and an entertainment center similar to a hotel lobby at the first floor.
Next year, a cyber zone or an I.T. zone will be opened in its second floor that will carry strong brands of computer and software solutions.
Despite its difference with the Southwing (main mall), the Northwing is not seen to affect its existing market-base as Garcia pointed out that it will be serving the needs of a specified market.
“We are enlarging the market so that we will be ready to serve the needs of different market segments.”
She said that the main mall will still cater to the middle-end of the market while the Northwing is more for the upscale market segment.
“Cebu is a very productive market for us and Cebuanos have continued to patronize us so we are continuously looking at other avenues that we can venture to serve the market and sustain the business,” Garcia underscored.
Proving how bullish they are with Cebu as a market, SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy outlaid the company’s expansion plans. In another interview, Sy confirmed that two more malls in the Southern and Northern parts of Cebu will be built in years to come. He said that at the moment, they are still eyeing feasible locations for these projects and the SRP is one location they are strongly considering.
Earlier this month, SM Prime opened SM City Taytay and SM Super-center Muntinlupa and they are scheduled to open three new malls and expand two existing ones in Marikina, Rosales in Pangasinan, Baliwag and two super-centers in Nagtahan and Vito Cruz in Metro Manila for 2008 as Garcia reported. By the end of next year, SM Prime will have 33 malls all over the country.
Always on the look-out for opportunities of growing the business, Garcia also shared that SM is also looking at China as another growth area as it is a huge market to penetrate having at least 20 million population. As a matter of fact, SM Prime has recently opened malls in Chengdu, Xiamen and Jinjiang. This move strives to gain a foothold in China’s fast-growing economy and use this as a platform for long-term growth outside of the Philippines, where they are one of the dominant shopping mall developers.
By: Rhia de Pablo
December 2, 2007
Catering to a different client-segment, SM City Cebu has recently soft-opened its awaited high-end annex called as the Northwing along with 48 locators, making it the largest SM mall in the Visayas region and the fourth largest SM mall in the country.
In an interview, SM Shopping Center Management Corp. president Annie Garcia said that the Northwing was styled in a spacious and classy way meant to attract a different market segment than the mall’s usual client-base.
“The market is evolving and they expect us to evolve with them so we did this to be attuned to their needs,” said Garcia.
About 57% of the Northwing’s development is still undergoing construction and by mid-December 70% from the 187 is expected to open according to Garcia and by early next year Northwing will be having its grand opening.
The SM Northwing has 107,049 square meters gross area that could occupy 187 leasable store outlets offering different products lines from books, accessories, clothes, shoes, food and many more. It has seven floors including the basement and a parking lot that can accommodate to about 2, 000 cars. It will have an al fresco dining setting at its rooftop area and an entertainment center similar to a hotel lobby at the first floor.
Next year, a cyber zone or an I.T. zone will be opened in its second floor that will carry strong brands of computer and software solutions.
Despite its difference with the Southwing (main mall), the Northwing is not seen to affect its existing market-base as Garcia pointed out that it will be serving the needs of a specified market.
“We are enlarging the market so that we will be ready to serve the needs of different market segments.”
She said that the main mall will still cater to the middle-end of the market while the Northwing is more for the upscale market segment.
“Cebu is a very productive market for us and Cebuanos have continued to patronize us so we are continuously looking at other avenues that we can venture to serve the market and sustain the business,” Garcia underscored.
Proving how bullish they are with Cebu as a market, SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy outlaid the company’s expansion plans. In another interview, Sy confirmed that two more malls in the Southern and Northern parts of Cebu will be built in years to come. He said that at the moment, they are still eyeing feasible locations for these projects and the SRP is one location they are strongly considering.
Earlier this month, SM Prime opened SM City Taytay and SM Super-center Muntinlupa and they are scheduled to open three new malls and expand two existing ones in Marikina, Rosales in Pangasinan, Baliwag and two super-centers in Nagtahan and Vito Cruz in Metro Manila for 2008 as Garcia reported. By the end of next year, SM Prime will have 33 malls all over the country.
Always on the look-out for opportunities of growing the business, Garcia also shared that SM is also looking at China as another growth area as it is a huge market to penetrate having at least 20 million population. As a matter of fact, SM Prime has recently opened malls in Chengdu, Xiamen and Jinjiang. This move strives to gain a foothold in China’s fast-growing economy and use this as a platform for long-term growth outside of the Philippines, where they are one of the dominant shopping mall developers.
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