| By Madelaine B. Miraflor, The Manila Times, PhilippinesMcClatchy-Tribune Regional News May 19--The hotel and convention center arm of tycoon Henry Sy's SM empire is targeting to put up more hotels and convention centers across the country, riding along with the planned expansion of the whole group. A top official said that while the SM Group's hotel business plans to open six Park Inn hotels in a few years, the group is also looking at some areas in the country where they can put up additional convention centers. Lourdes Macalindong, vice president for sales and marketing of SM Hotels and Conventions Corp., said that the vision for the group is to open one hotel per year in the span of about five years. "The plan for next year is to have another Park Inn by Radisson in Clark [in Pampanga]. That is going to be a little under 200 rooms," she said, adding that they are also looking at Metro Manila as a potential location for a new Park Inn hotel. Meanwhile, Dexter Deyto, SMX Convention Center general manager, said that the company has a combined 34,000-square-meter gross floor area for convention centers, and that the company is planning to grow this to 50,000 square meters in less than three years. "In three to five years development or in less than three years, we will already hit 50,000 square meters," he said. There is a SMX Convention Center in Manila, Taguig and Davao, among other locations, and the target of the group is to be present in some other key cities across the country. "We try to locate in key cities. We are looking at North Luzon and we are looking at the Visayas," Deyto said. "Cebu is in the front run. There is an SRP [South Road Properties] development in Cebu. Cebu SRP is going to be a mini MOA [Mall of Asia]," he added. Deyto also said that like the hotel division of the company, the SMX team is also looking at Clark as a potential location to put up a new convention center. "We are the newest core business. We are also in expansion mode," he further said. ___ (c)2013 The Manila Times (Manila, Philippines) Visit The Manila Times (Manila, Philippines) at www.manilatimes.net Distributed by MCT Information Services |
|