MEGAWORLD Hotels & Resorts (MHR), the hospitality arm of listed property developer Megaworld Corp., is targeting an additional 1,000 rooms across its Boracay and Iloilo properties this year, a company official said.
“I have Chancellor Hotel Boracay with 500 rooms opening this September, and then I have Belmont Hotel Iloilo with 400 plus rooms opening also in September this year,” MHR Group Commercial Director Loleth G. So told reporters on the sidelines of a Hotel Sales and Marketing Association event last week.
“So, [we expect] roughly about a thousand keys for this year,” she said.
MHR currently operates approximately 7,700 keys across its homegrown brands, which include Savoy Hotel, Belmont Hotel, Richmonde Hotel, Kingsford Hotel, Twin Lakes Hotel Tagaytay, and Hotel Lucky Chinatown.
The company is also set to open the two-level Mactan Expo Center in the fourth quarter.
The facility, which will offer a 2,500-seat capacity, aims to support Cebu’s growing meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) market.
“We really want to make sure that [the] MICE [market] is driven towards Cebu, because it’s [a] very strong gateway to the south and they have direct flights coming from overseas,” said Ms. So.
The Mactan Expo Center, located near Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown and Belmont Hotel Mactan, will feature nearly 10,000 square meters of MICE space, including a convention hall that can be divided into three smaller halls. Other features include pre-function areas, a foyer, and two drop-off zones.
The company is also planning to open Kingsford Hotel Bacolod, a 12-story condotel, by 2027.
MHR’s first-quarter revenues rose by 27% to P1.43 billion, driven by higher room rates.
On Thursday, shares of Megaworld climbed by 2.29% or four centavos to close at P1.79 apiece. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
