Manila hotels urged to promote city as heritage circuit

MANILA, Philippines — Hotels in Manila should capitalize on the planned development of a tourism circuit in the city by renovating their facilities and highlighting historical and cultural features, a property services firm said.

“Hotel operators should see this as an opportunity to modernize facilities and renovate while highlighting their hotels’ historical and cultural features,” Colliers International Philippines research manager Joey Roi Bondoc told The STAR.

The Manila city government earlier announced plans of developing a tourism circuit that would focus on heritage sites, linking Intramuros to the National Museum, Rizal Park, Binondo and other heritage districts within the city.

Bondoc said this would be good for Manila tourism in general as it should result in the restoration of historical structures.

“Overall, hotel operators can maximize Manila’s plan by emphasizing on heritage,” Bondoc said.

He added that hotels in Manila, especially historic ones, should enhance their experiential value to capitalize on this development.

“This should attract more affluent travelers willing to spend more for a unique guest experience,” Bondoc said.

He said offering incentives for the redevelopment of old buildings could attract more investors.

“To encourage more investors to redevelop historical buildings, we believe that the local government should tout an attractive set of incentives to potential developers and operators,” Bondoc said.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has been working to promote the historical value of Manila to attract more tourists to visit heritage sites such as the Walled City of Intramuros.

In June, the Intramuros Administration (IA) partnered with Manila Hotel to launch the Visita Intramuros tour program, which offers guests of the hotel a tour of Intramuros.

The tour package also invites guests to a tour of The Manila Hotel Heritage Museum, The MacArthur Suite and the Champagne Room, all of which are within the hotel.

“This is a very good effort of IA and Manila hotel to elevate the experience of the travelers in the Philippines,” Tourism Assistant Secretary Roberto Alabado earlier said.

Alabado said there is a need for more similar partnerships with the private and public sector as this ultimately bodes well for the country’s tourism sector.

“There’s a need for more collaboration so that each of us can push those coming from Intramuros, we can push going to their hotel but at the same time, hotels can push their guests to visit Intramuros,” Alabado said.

“It’s always a mutually beneficial partnership that we are looking for. We are just one industry. We need to have stronger ties with each other,” the tourism official said.