Conrad finds home in PH

CONRAD Manila is the first in the Philippines conradhotels3.hilton.com

IT TOOK a while for the Conrad to come to the Philippines, but it has every intention of aggressively making up for lost time.

This is according to Martin Rinck, Executive Vice President and President (Asia Pacific) Hilton Worldwide, who was in the country last month for the grand opening of Conrad Manila, the first in the Philippines and executed in partnership with the SM Group of Companies.

Rinck told the Inquirer in an interview that the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals—a projected economic growth of 6.4 percent this year, steady increase in visitor arrivals and a young and growing workforce—made it logical for the 96-year-old Hilton Worldwide group to bring the luxury hotel brand to the Philippines and consider expanding to other progressive parts of the country.

“The fundamentals are there,” said Rinck, “we are very bullish about the whole market in the Philippines.”

Rinck also pointed to the economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which will create a huge market of some 600 million people, as a positive development that will drive the continuing growth of the country’s travel and tourism sector.

He said the percentage of travel within Asean had gone up every year. Also, the region managed to grow independently from the rest of the world.

Rinck

Thus while there have been significant economic challenges in Europe as well as the United States, Southeast Asian countries continued to grow at a healthy pace.

“The dynamics within Asia are so phenomenal,” said Rinck, “the economic epicenter will be in Asia. The future will be decided here.”

Hilton Worldwide, the leading global hospitality company with brands such as Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Conrad Hotels and Resorts, is investing accordingly.

Of the 1,000 hotels in the group’s long pipeline, 269 will be in Asia-Pacific, a testament to the group’s belief in the region’s potential.

For Rinck, that vision for the region includes a bay area in the Philippines that will have more activity, evolving into a top business destination over the next two to three years.

And with the view of the famed Manila Bay sunset, the area will attract not just business activities but more retail and residential developments as well, said Rinck.

The area is already on its way to achieving its full potential given the aggressive development plans of the SM Group, whom Rinck describes as the ideal partner to bring Conrad to the Philippines.

He said the coming together of Hilton and SM resulted from the “alignment of the stars.”

“We needed to have the right location, right partner and then the right brand,” said Rinck.

He believes that the Hilton found all three in Conrad Manila, thus his excitement over the bright prospects of not just the hotel but the entire area.

“We assume that the bay area fast forward two to three years will evolve more into a business destination,” said Rinck.

He related that the Marina Bay financial center of Singapore developed in much the same way, with reclaimed land now used for not just leisure activities but also banking and financial activities.

“I assume that the same is happening here,” he said.

And Conrad Manila is primed to take a big piece of the coming action.