SM group, hotel company expand partnership

CEBU CITY—The SM group of tycoon Henry Sy has inked a deal with global hotel management group Carlson Rezidor to develop a new hotel property under the midscale brand Park Inn by Radisson in Clark, Pampanga.

The new 150-room hotel adjacent to the existing SM City Clark is scheduled to open in 2016 and will mark the second hotel under the Park Inn by Radisson brand in the country after a maiden project in Lanang, Davao.

With this deal, SM and Calson Rezidor hotel group stepped up their existing hotel business partnership.

Under the new development agreement, SM Hotels and Conventions has identified five new sites and is pursuing five additional locations for Park Inn by Radisson, reflecting a “strong mutual” intent to grow the brand over the next five to eight years. The additional sites being considered include Mall of Asia, North Edsa and Iloilo.

The hotel management agreement between SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. and Carlson Rezidor was signed here in time for a conference hosted by SM-owned luxury hotel Radissons Blu attended by about 100 general managers of the hotel group’s properties in Asia Pacific.

“Our strong relationship with partners including SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. in the Philippines, is enabling us to drive incremental growth potential of at least 100 hotels in Asia-Pacific,” said Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Asia-Pacific president Simon Barlow, who was in town for the regional conference and the deal signing with SM.

Barlow noted that in 2011, Carlson Rezidor implemented a growth strategy based on establishing strategic partnerships across select countries in Asia-Pacific that would provide multi-hotel platforms.

“We are expanding our existing partnership with Carlson Rezidor as we believe that our businesses have a shared vision and strategy for growth in the Philippines. Park Inn by Radisson is a hotel brand that appeals to a market of 35 million domestic travelers, our target clientele for SM Malls,” said Elizabeth Sy, president of SM Hotels and Conventions Corp.

“The signing of Park Inn by Radisson Clark reflects our vision of presenting a vibrant, international mid-scale hotel brand alongside SM Mall and SMX Convention and Exhibition Center for mutual benefit in multiple locations,” Sy said.