Saturday, September 6, 2008

SM lets Carlson manage 5-star hotel in Cebu



SY-LED HOLDING firm SM Investments Corp. has signed a deal with a Singapore-based hotel operator to manage its hotel in Cebu City.

In disclosure yesterday, the company said it was allowing Carlson Hotels Worldwide-Asia Pacific to manage its 400-room Radisson Hotel Cebu, which is due to open in the first quarter of next year.

The P2.8-billion five-star Radisson Hotel — earlier announced to be carrying the Sofitel brand — is just a stone’s throw away from the city’s central business district and will have 10 meeting rooms and a 1,000-square meter ballroom.

"We already enjoy an exceptionally synergistic relationship with the Carlson Group, having them in our Manila Bay location," said Merril Yu, senior vice-president of SM’s hotel group.

"It makes sense to extend this to our product in Cebu and reap the tangible rewards of an established partnership," she added.

SM earlier signed two agreements with Carlson for the management of The Regent Manila Bay and Radisson Manila Bay, two of Carlson’s full-service hotel brands, at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.

The P2.4-billion hotels, which will share the same building structure, are scheduled to open in 2010.

Radisson will have 500 guest rooms, while the Regent will offer 80 large and plush suites, including a 400-square meter presidential suite.

Mr. Yu told BusinessWorld they shifted from Sofitel to Radisson and chose Carlson to be the operator so that "there will be synergy in both the company’s Cebu and Manila hotels."

"We are also in negotiations with them for the management of our future projects," she added.

Carlson has about 9,000 rooms in operation and more than 10,000 rooms under development across the Asia-Pacific region.

It is one of the world’s 10 largest hotel companies in terms of properties managed, and owns the brands T.G.I. Friday’s and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

In April, SM Investments formed SM Hotels Corp., which will consolidate the holding company’s hotel assets as it takes advantage of the rising demand for investment-grade tourism-related projects such as hotels and resorts.

It will eventually have four divisions: residential and commercial development, tourism and hotel operations. — Kristine Jane R. Liu

Vol. XXII, No. 30
Friday, September 5, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES

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