P718M overhaul underway

Thursday, February 23, 2012

IMPROVEMENTS are underway at one of the resort hotel facilities in Mactan, Cebu.

In a recent interview, sales and marketing director Agnes Pacis of the Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa said the improvements are buoyed both by the intense competition among resort hotels in Mactan and the growing demand of hotel guests for a more resort-quality experience.

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“Even without other players, the hotel would want to remain a world-class destination because we have to compete with Phuket, Bali and the other Asian destinations,” Pacis said.

“We don’t only sell our hotels but we also are serious in promoting Cebu and Mactan,” she said.

Shangri-La has embarked on a three-phase renovation program that will cost them some P718 million. The hotel recently completed Phase 1, which includes improvements on some 75 rooms. The hotel is currently on its Phase 2 renovation program, improving some 123 rooms, which will be completed in June.

Phase 3, which will include the main lobby and some 144 rooms, will commence in January next year. The hotel has a total of 530 rooms.

According to Shangri-La design firm Ara Design Asia, it selected an “ocean-to-shore” theme of warm, golden sand and fresh turquoise ocean hues to complement the resort’s existing structure and location.

The hotel also said they have added eight new suite rooms on top of their existing 22 suites rooms to compete with the other room facilities of other resort hotels.

Family-oriented

Foreign tourists from Korea, Japan and Russia are among the top markets of Shangri-La.

The hotel also noted an increasing domestic market especially on weekends. “We want to be known more as a family resort,” Pacis noted.

Shangri-La enjoys an average 70 percent occupancy year-on-year. The hotel expects a surge of guests in time for the Ironman event this August.

To attract more tourists to choose their facility, the hotel said they will set up an attractive package with their sister-hotels as well as employ marketing strategies in line with the tourism department’s “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” campaign.

“We were encouraged by the Department of Tourism to also come up with our own initiatives that would support the new slogan,” Pacis said.

Under a DOT circular dated Feb. 3, the private sector, particularly accredited enterprises, are encouraged to use the new tagline in their marketing collaterals and information resources, including brochures, posters, billboards, websites, Facebook pages, and all other applicable materials that are communicated to or seen by the public locally and internationally.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez has said photos that will be used in conjunction with the tagline must show positive images and should not distort the appropriate message of the slogan. “The tagline or slogan should not be used in a negative context,” the circular stated.

Tourism enterprises are likewise encouraged to brief and train their employees to extend a more cordial and fun Philippine experience for tourists.