FILINVEST HOSPITALITY Corp. (FHC) won a bid for a 25-year lease to develop a 200-room hotel in Baguio City under an agreement with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the John Hay Management Corp.

The Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) subsidiary will develop the 5,700-square meter property at Camp John Hay, which will be managed by Chroma Hospitality Inc., Filinvest said in a press release on Wednesday.

The agreement was signed by BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Vivencio B. Dizon, JHMC  President and Chief Executive Officer Allan Garcia, and FHC Senior Vice President Francis Gotianun on Wednesday.

Mr. Gotianun said the hotel will be ready for guests in three to four years, which he said is in line with anticipated tourism recovery and the company’s expectation that Baguio will remain a top tourist destination.

“As early as now, since the loosening of the lockdown and implementation of more efficient health and safety protocols, we are beginning to see signs of that recovery,” he said.

Baguio City last week raised its tourist cap to 1000 people, which was set at 500 in October. Travellers must submit a negative result of an RT-PCR or rapid test done 72 hours before the planned travel.

Tourism revenue this year fell almost 80% to P81 billion in the first 10 months, the Department of Tourism said last month, adding that it recorded no tourism spending from April to October.

BCDA in March published the bid invitation for the Sheridan Drive Center in the John Hay Special Economic Zone for a hotel with commercial and retail components.

The minimum bid was P5.1 million or the equivalent starting annual lease payment on the fifth year of the 25-year renewable contract.

The Filinvest hotel will be the first dual property under both the Grafik Hotels and Resorts and Quest Hotels and Resorts brands. Quest operates in Cebu, Clark and Tagaytay, while a Grafik resort is being developed in Cebu.

Chroma Hospitality is a joint venture  hotel management company between FDC and Archipelago International of Singapore. FHC is a wholly owned hospitality development and asset management subsidiary of FDC.

Shares in FDC went up two cents or 0.21% to P9.54 apiece on Wednesday. — Jenina P. Ibañez

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