SM Hotels to grow portfolio by 1,700 rooms in four years

MANILA, Philippines — Banking on the tourism boom, SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) is slated to open 1,700 new hotel rooms in the next four years in Metro Manila and across several provinces.

Broken down, 1,400 hotel rooms will be added in Cauayan City, Isabela; Laguna; Cebu South Road Properties; Dasmariñas, Cavite; Laoag City; Olongapo Central and Clark, Pampanga.

Some 300 keys, meanwhile, will be made available in Metro Manila by 2028.

“We are ready to support the growth in tourism as we move even closer to emerging regions to provide Filipinos and foreign travelers alike with quality accommodation,” SMHCC executive vice president Peggy Angeles said.

The Department of Tourism expects the arrival of 7.7 million tourists this year. Over 2 million guests visited the country as of April 24.

READ: Surge in tourist arrivals straining room supply

“Our hotel expansion contributes to the development of local economies, further creating jobs and boosting tourism and local growth through the increased demand for services and local products,” she said.

Recently, SM Hotels launched Lanson Place Mall of Asia, expanding its footprint to 10 hotels and more than 2,601 rooms.

Apart from six convention centers, the company also has two trade halls with over 42,000 square meters (sqm) of leasable areas.

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Parent company SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) is spending up to P115 billion in capital expenditure, the bulk of which will go to its property business.

Among the projects in the pipeline are the opening of four new malls with 400,000 sqm of gross floor area and the launch of 10,000 units of residential developments.

The business giant also plans to establish 130,000 sqm of office spaces within its mall complexes.