SINGAPORE -- Luxury spa and hotel operator Banyan Tree is expanding into the Philippines with a seaside resort worth over $200 million, the Singapore-listed company said Wednesday.

It plans to open the 55-hectare (136 acres) Isla Diwaran integrated island resort in 2012 in Palawan province, Banyan Tree said in a statement.

Palawan is an area popular for its coral reefs and dive sites.

The company already has hotels in some of the world's most exclusive and popular holiday spots such as the Seychelles and Maldives.

It will develop the project, its first in the Philippines, together with Filipino businessman Salvador Zamora of Tranzen Group.

"The integrated resort development of Isla Diwaran heralds the arrival of Palawan as a serious tourism player and a new destination in its own right," executive chairman Ho Kwon Ping said.

The resort will feature three hotels with a total of 600 rooms, including one under its flagship Banyan Tree brand, the company said.

The resort will also feature its signature spas, water villas and a town center that comes with recreational and retail outlets and eateries.

Banyan Tree was founded by Ho, a former journalist, and his wife in 1994 and was one of the first resort chains to offer guests the seclusion of their own villa equipped with a private pool and a tropical spa.