CEBU, Philippines - Major business hotels in Cebu City see a positive trend in the occupancy rate for the first two months this year, which indicates that the world’s travel market is starting to move up.
Cebu Parklane International Hotel general manager Cenelyn Manguilimotan said that 2010 is a better year, although it is still too early to conclude.
The hotel’s January to February average occupancy rate hit in an average of 65 percent to 68 percent respectively.
Likewise, Cebu City Marriott Hotel registered an encouraging average occupancy rate of 76 percent in the first two months of this year.
Cebu City Marriott Hotel general manager Roy Abraham said in an interview that city hotel business in hotel is now experiencing a positive trend.
“Business is very good for Cebu’s hospitality industry. We normally don’t have this high percentage on the month of February, but it seems that this month is the busiest compared to last year,” said Abraham.
Marriott’s number one foreign guest profile is the American nationals, although domestic guests still the major market occupants of the hotel.
Abraham noted that Chinese nationals, especially those from Mainland China, are an emerging visitor market for the hotel.
“We have noticed a good number of Chinese staying in the hotel this year. We haven’t seen this much Chinese guests in the last year,” he said, adding that Cebu’s hospitality industry is grateful for the efforts of the Department of Tourism (DoT) in pushing for more Chinese arrivals beginning with the direct chartered flights from China to Cebu.
On the other hand, Manguilimotan said Cebu-based hotels are now capitalizing on the bullishness displayed by Cebu’s tourism and business industries by attending international trade fairs and coming up with more value added services for their guests.
Parklane, for instance, has decided to bank on the global meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) market. This coming March, Manguilimotan will be participating in the Middle East travel road-show conducted by the DoT, which aims to lure visitors from Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait, among others.
“City-based hotels will benefit more from the Middle East market compared to the Europeans because those in the Middle East love to shop. Given the proximity of the hotels in Cebu to the nearest shopping and entertainment centers, we hope we can take advantage of this market,” Manguilimotan said.
Abraham added that Marriott is also seeing increasing number of Indian visitors, but the transportation accessibility still the major concern among Indian tourists.
A good market to watch out for is the Chinese market, Abraham said adding “we haven’t seen this high Chinese arrival in the last two years.”
Generally, Abraham concluded that business is turning around this year, especially for global travel and this is good for Cebu’s economy in general.
