Ayala Land’s homegrown hotel brand Seda announced yesterday that it is on track in its plans to establish a strong nationwide presence with a total of 3,268 rooms in 11 locations by 2020.
Seda currently has 1,863 rooms in nine locations that are mostly considered “underserved areas,” according to Seda Hotels group director of sales and marketing Melissa Carlos. “Following our accomplishments in these cities, we are now completing plans to further penetrate major destinations like BGC, Cebu and soon, Makati, to add 1,405 more rooms.”
Set to launch in 2019 are the second tower in BGC with 342 rooms, Seda Residences Makati with 293 rooms and Seda Cebu IT Park with 214 rooms. In 2020, it will complete Seda Manila Bay in Aseana City with 350 rooms and an expansion of 206 rooms for Seda Nuvali.
Seda Hotels senior group general manager Andrea Mastellone revealed that a maximum of P10 billion pesos will be invested in the five properties.
“The expansion will make Seda the biggest homegrown operator in the country,” he said.
Seda’s current portfolio includes properties in BGC, Cagayan de Oro, Davao City, Nuvali in Laguna, Iloilo, Quezon City, Bacolod, Cebu and Lio Tourism Estate in El Nido town, Palawan. It initially focused on serving the needs of business travelers with boutique city hotels with less than 200 rooms; ventured into large format city hotels with Seda Vertis North in Quezon City which has 438 rooms; and into resort hotels with Seda Lio with 153 rooms.
“We are also expanding into new categories such as serviced residences, resorts and large city formats as part of our efforts to tap the MICE market and weddings in addition to business and leisure,” Carlos added.
Carlos observed that Seda’s evolution towards being a leading Philippine hotel chain competitive with international brands is best exemplified by the growth of its flagship Seda BGC from 179 rooms to 521 rooms in just five years, of which 48 will be serviced residences ranging from studios to two-bedrooms.
Travelers both on business and leisure seeking accommodations in BGC have been swiftly increasing year-on-year and have helped maintain Seda BGC’s occupancy despite an increase in hotel rooms in the booming business destination.
“Seda BGC is at a minimum of 80% average occupancy even with the opening of other properties here. Group-wise we are also at 78- to 80%. You will see how big the demand is for rooms all over the country,” Mastellone declared.
Studies show that in 2018, BGC exhibited the highest demand among Metro Manila business areas as shown by its net office take-up of 33% as of the third quarter. It was followed by Quezon City at 26%, where Seda Vertis North is serving the market; and the Manila Bay area or Bay City at 12%, where the hotel hopes to tap the market by 2020.
Carlos also disclosed that Seda hotels has grown its market share in every location by offering a location within a mixed-use Ayala Land community accessible to restaurants and retail, superior accommodations and delightful service. The latter is evidenced by its high guest return rate of 42%.
