Oro hotel notes slump following Davao bombing

A HOTEL executive of a top hotel in the city said the negative effects of the Davao City bombing have spilled over and affected hotel bookings and occupancy in Cagayan de Oro, a city some 200 kilometers away.

Jerome de la Fuente, Limketkai Luxe Hotel (LLH) general manager, said a “drastic downturn” in hotel occupancy has been observed since Monday, three days after the bombing of a night market on September 2, in Davao City that killed 14 and wounded 70 others.

De la Fuente said the declaration of the state of lawlessness has also caused a considerable number of booking cancellations in both room occupancy and conventions and other events.

“The aftermath of the recent Davao bombing has made our hotel business at a slowdown, and if the situation will continue we stand to lose a sizable projected income this year and the next,” de la Fuente said.

De la Fuente added cancellations of big ticket conventions, room reservations by both domestic and foreign guests resulted to a business condition where the hotel at present is in a quandary looking for clients.

He said since January, LLH enjoyed an average of 68 percent occupancy rate but now it’s down to 30 percent and could go lower if other countries continue to issue travel advisories warning their citizens against setting foot in Mindanao.

“It is quite unfair for Cagayan de Oro to be included as unsafe in travel advisories when the city is far from where the bombing happened. And the declaration of state lawlessness has made it all the more appear that this city, since it is in Mindanao, is an unlikely destination,” Dela Fuente said.

The LLH business depended on 70 percent on room occupancy and 30 percent on business meetings and conventions. In a span of almost one week after the Davao bombing, the hotel business already incurred losses of about P5 million in revenues.

LLH before the Davao bombing, it has been winning bids in Manila for big organizations to hold their conventions in Cagayan de Oro where there is peace and order.

“What we say to our prospective clients in selling Cagayan de Oro in general and LLH in particular, is that it is safe and secure to do business in the city, but no guarantee.

And they believe in us, thus we have all those bookings, which are now cancelled because of what happened in Davao City,” De la Fuente said.

De la Fuente added in order to stay in business, LHH management is considering to drop its rates in the coming weeks until the business situation is back to normal.

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