Cebu’s tourism industry will get a fresh boost from property developer Megaworld Corp., which has set aside P8 billion to put up five new luxury hotels on Mactan Island.
The capital outlay will increase Megaworld’s hotel portfolio by 2,000 rooms. The developer will also expand its 28.8-hectare mixed-use project The Mactan Newtown in Lapu Lapu City.
In a statement issued Thursday, Megaworld said the first two high-rise hotels—Mactan Belmont Luxury Hotel and the Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown—would rise on Newtown Boulevard of the township in five years.
Also, two beachfront hotels will be put up in the area that used to be Portofino Beach Resort.
Another luxury hotel of international brand is also expected to rise in the township.
“With the influx of more tourists to Mactan Island year after year, we hope to be able to offer more exciting facilities that will help further boost tourism in the region. Aside from local tourists, we hope to cater to foreign guests and visitors to The Mactan Newtown as well,” said Carmen Fernando of Prestige Hotels and Resorts Inc., operator of Mactan Belmont Luxury Hotel and Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown.
Megaworld is also constructing a three-level lifestyle mall called Plaza Magellan, which is envisioned to become a major landmark of The Mactan Newtown.
The mall’s entrance plaza will face the Lapu-Lapu Shrine, site of the historic battle between the forces of Lapu-Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.
The plaza’s main feature will be a life-sized Spanish galleon. Called the Victoria, it would be a replica of the first vessel Magellan and his men used to circumnavigate the world.
Based on data from the Department of Tourism, Mactan Island drew almost 900,000 tourists last year—75 percent of whom had flown in from 63 different countries around the world.