Growing demand for convention centers in areas outside Metro Manila is pushing the SM Group to expand its facility in Pampanga in the next two to three years, with another set to rise in Cebu City.
According to SM Investments Corp., the country’s most valuable conglomerate, it will expand the usable space of the 4,000-square-meter (sq m) SMX Convention Center Clark to make it one of its largest venues for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).
“Through the combined efforts of SM’s business units such as Park Inn by Radisson Clark, SMX Convention Center and SM City Clark, we help support the vision to transform Clark into a thriving hub for MICE activities,” Eduardo Miguel Morato, SMX Clark cluster senior branch manager, said in a statement earlier this week.
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Located beside Park Inn by Radisson Clark, SMX Clark houses three halls, three function rooms and 14 meeting rooms.
In choosing to expand SMX Clark instead of its seven other convention centers, SM Investments cited the 16.3 million tourists who visited Clark in the first semester alone.
Same-day guests ballooned by 1,869 percent to 14.57 million versus the same period last year, data from Clark Development Corp. showed.
Clark, once a US Air Force base, hosted 115 events in the past year, including 36 running events; 13 biking, duathlon and triathlon events; nine spectator shows; seven festivals; and 50 other activities.
Earlier, SM Investments announced plans to further leverage the rapid growth of Clark by building its own multimodal transport terminal that will boost access to the area.
The company did not elaborate on how much space it would be adding to SMX Clark, which is currently one of its smaller convention centers.
SMX Manila remains the company’s largest convention center with 17,170 sq m of leasable space that can accommodate up to 18,000 people.
The conglomerate plans to open SMX Convention Center Cebu in South Road Properties by the fourth quarter of 2026.
This is expected to have a gross floor area of 40,879.4 sq m and a gross leasable area of 24,212.74 sq m.
Real estate investment management firm Colliers Philippines said in its 2025 Outlook Report that the establishment of more MICE facilities “is a must, especially now that the government is positioning the Philippines as a key MICE destination in the world.” —Meg J. Adonis