Hotel industry targets expansion of 15,000 rooms over next 5 years

THE Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) said it is expecting its members to expand by about 15,000 rooms over the next five years.

“We have about 217 hotels all over the country, and our estimated room inventory is about 40,000 rooms. In the next five years, we hope to add 15,000 rooms” across 50 new projects, PHOA Executive Director Benito C. Bengzon, Jr. said on Tuesday.

“We continue to look for opportunities in and out of metropolitan areas,” Mr. Bengzon said.

He said the hotel industry must raise its game to be regionally and globally competitive.

“If you look at the inventory in Thailand, Malaysia, and even Vietnam, they have far bigger numbers than what we have,” he added.

In terms of revenue and occupancy rate, PHOA President Arthur M. Lopez said the association remains bullish on growth, though it has not yet recovered from pre-pandemic levels.

“We are very positive about it, especially with the Department of Tourism being very bullish and doing everything to increase arrivals,” Mr. Lopez said.

“But what we really need are more flights and hotels. You know, there are certain locations where you cannot really get a hotel room,” he added.

He said that there is a need to improve infrastructure, such as the roads to the hotels, to increase the convenience for guests.

“We are very confident that things will improve, as our average occupancy rate is 70% and we want it to be higher,” he said.

“But the most important thing is that we want our yield to improve. That is really the key, as you could be low occupancy with a high yield,” he added.

He described the industry’s recovery as variable, depending on the area.

“Some hotels are doing very well, particularly in the National Capital Region, as there is business traffic there and a higher rate,” he said.

“But in general, the occupancy rate is not consistent,” he added, citing the seasonality of demand and rates in Bohol hotels.

Asked for his outlook for the recovery in the Chinese visitor market, he said there is not much movement from China.

“They are not traveling as much as they used to, so we need to start looking at other markets such as Japan, Thailand, even Taiwan and India, because they are traveling,” he said.

“We can invite them to come, and I think now the government is working on making sure that it is easier for people in India to get tourist visas to the Philippines,” he added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile