Megaworld rolling out new hotel developments

MANILA, Philippines — Property giant Megaworld Corp. is accelerating its hospitality expansion, with new hotel properties set to open in key tourism areas over the next five to seven years.

The company is targeting nearly 12,000 rooms by 2032, with new hotel developments and continued expansion in major tourism and business hubs nationwide.

Megaworld’s expansion will include both homegrown and international hotel brands.

“We see tourism as one of the most powerful engines of sustainable economic growth. Every hotel we build creates jobs, supports local businesses, brings visitors to new destinations and opens more opportunities for communities to prosper,” Kevin Tan, president and chief executive officer of Alliance Global Group Inc., the parent company of Megaworld, said.

Beyond opening more hotels, Megaworld is also reshaping its hospitality business to prepare for a larger, more global hospitality operation.

The company has established Megaworld Global Hotels and Resorts to bring together its growing hotel portfolio under two focused groups.

The first group is called Megaworld Hotels and Resorts, which will manage the company’s hotel developments in Metro Manila, Boracay, Batangas and Cebu.

Megaworld Global Hospitality, meanwhile, will handle Mövenpick Manila Bay Westside, Megaworld’s biggest hotel property, as well as the company’s new hotel properties in Palawan and three hotels in Iloilo.

“Through our expanding hospitality portfolio under Megaworld Global Hotels and Resorts, we want to help continue unlocking the immense tourism potential of the Philippines and bring more of our country’s destinations, culture and world-class Filipino hospitality to travelers from around the globe,” Tan said.

Megaworld has appointed seasoned industry executives to lead the two hospitality groups.

Socrates Alvaro has been named managing director of Megaworld Hotels and Resorts, while Anna Vergara has been named managing director of Megaworld Global Hospitality.

Megaworld said Alvaro and Vergara bring complementary strengths to the new organization — one anchored in homegrown hospitality expertise and the other in global hotel standards and international brand management.

“One of our biggest contributions to nation-building is to help make our tourism industry more vibrant and attractive, especially to foreign visitors,” Megaworld president and CEO Lourdes Gutierrez Alfonso said.

“To support this goal of helping boost our country’s tourism, we are making this bold move of expanding our hospitality organization with established veterans and innovators in the global hotels and leisure industry,” she said.