Roxas group expanding hotel, resort portfolio

Roxas and Co. Inc. (RCI), which is involved in sugar and real estate businesses, is riding on the bright prospects of the Philippine tourism industry by expanding its hotel and resort management portfolio and diversifying into themed-restaurant business this year.

In a statement, RCI chair and chief executive officer Pedro Roxas said the group, through Fuego Hotels Management Inc., was expecting to have a bigger number of hotels and resorts under its management. He said the group was also in the process of finalizing the acquisition of the master franchise of a themed restaurant.

The concept for the restaurant is from Spain, he said. “The Spanish-themed restaurant concept will be launched in the Philippines in the next two to three months,” he said.

Overall, he said, Fuego Hotels was planning to “aggressively increase its portfolio of managed hotels and resort properties in 2014.”

In the meantime, RCI senior vice president Santiago Elizalde of Roxaco Land Corp., the property arm of RCI, reported that a venture with Singapore’s VH Select Investments (Phil) Pte Ltd was “progressing significantly.”

“The recently signed 50-50 partnership with Vanguard Hotels has been sealed. The partnership has already broken ground in Parañaque for the construction of the first, of a minimum of five, Go Hotel properties that Roxaco will open within the next three years,” Elizalde said.

The succeeding sites for the other Go Hotel properties have already been identified and are currently under negotiation, he said.

The first Go Hotel owned by RCI’s Roxaco and VH Select Investments is scheduled to open before the end of this year.

Roxas reported that Anya Resort & Residences in Tagaytay City was now moving to its second phase. The first phase, where open lots are offered, is now sold out.

He said “exciting developments are unveiling” at Roxaco, spurred by an increasing interest among buyers to secure suites, which formed part of the second phase of Anya.

“Anya is unique as it will be the first Filipino world-class resort brand to promote a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle that the entire family can enjoy. We want to make healthy living or a healthy lifestyle part of the Anya DNA,” Roxas said.

“Roxaco Land is currently selling the resort investment suites that will be generating real cash returns for their owners as the buyers will be entitled to their share of the resort revenues generated by their units,” Elizalde said.

RCI is positioning its businesses to capture  larger market shares in their respective fields, adding that sugar and related interests, real estate development and property holdings all bode well for the rest of the year.