Friday, September 05, 2008 Davao City, a potential market in hotel business: exec By Joy Romares-Sevilla
TAPPING the Davao City market would be a very big advantage for this Makati-based standard hotel that targets 15 percent of client contribution from both Visayas and Mindanao, particularly the Cebu and Davao markets.
Joaquin Mercado II, rooms division manager of the Millenium Plaza Serviced Residences in Makati, was here in Davao City Thursday together with the hotel's sales manager, Desiree Posadas, to introduce Millenium Plaza to Davao City.
For 13 years of existence, Mercado said this is the first time that they will tap the city.
"We were very happy with the response of the market from Davao City. Davao and Cebu have a three-percent contribution in our production, and we believe that Davao is a potential market," Mercado said.
He added that clients from Davao City have been in and out of the Millenium Plaza for the past years, some, he said, even availed of the hotel's long-staying package. These clients are the EastWest Bank, Pharmalink, and other business firms.
"Our target market are businessmen. Our rooms are designed for long-staying. We allow our clients to cook inside their rooms and this what made us different from other hotels.We provide cooking utensils and even an electric stove," Mercado said.
He said its fixed hotel rates are competitive and actually very affordable for a Makati location.
"Travelers will love our hotel promo rate of only P1,200 per person on twin sharing rooms. This extend to students or family, who can avail of our Stay and Learn Package for as low as P2,900 for four persons sharing a room," Mercado said.
Mercado added that the Millenium Plaza is a 27-storey standard hotel with 75 rooms.
In terms of hotel's occupancy rate, Mercado said that 45 percent of the hotel bookings are made by tourists, 5 to 10 percent is for clients or CEOs, and the rest percentage are contributed by local residents and corporate bookings.
Meanwhile, Posadas said the hotel's occupancy rate from January to August this year was placed at 88 percent.
She said that in terms of revenues, the hotel is doing good.
"The hotel's revenue is increasing. It is higher by 50 percent from January to August this year compared to last year of the same period," Posadas said.
"The increase in our occupancy rate was attributed to our promo and also to the travel agencies and websites. These helped a lot in making people know that we made our rates affordable for them," she added.
They said that as of August 2008, the hotel has an average of ten room nights in a day, which means an average of ten clients per day have availed of the hotel's promo.
Unlike other hotels, Mercado said, the Millenium Plaza is giving personalized services to its clients.
"We give directions and assistance to clients who are from the provinces and who are not familiar in places in Manila. Also, unlike other hotels, which are located in Makati, our rooms are more spacious of about 55 square meters per room. Our location is also an advantage because we are only 15 minutes away from shopping centers like the Greenbelt," he said.
When asked whether the Millenium Plaza management plans expansion outside Luzon, Mercado said there has no plans yet, but instead, part of its expansion is the construction of a branch in Dubai soon.
