MICE, staycationers to buoy up local hotels

The meetings, incentives, conferences and Exhibition (MICE) market and domestic tourists (or staycationers) will continue to keep the Philippine hotel industry afloat despite the sluggish international arrivals, according to Agnes Pacis, vice president for commercial of the SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC).

- MARIANNE GO

Speaking on the sidelines of the recently concluded 11th Virtus Award held last Nov. 10 at the Okada Manila, Pacis remains optimistic that the local hotel industry will continue to grow despite the recent political and disruptive climate events.

Pacis optimistically cited the Philippines’ assumption of the leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by January next year as the much needed boost for the local hotel industry, with the country expected to host over 600 events throughout the year.

“So that will tide us through because meetings, incentives, conference, exhibition is a focus of the government, especially the Tourism Promotions Board, the Department of Tourism and a lot of the local government units or LGUs are really finding the value MICE will bring,” she pointed out.

Thus, Pacis admitted, SMHCC, which includes SMX, is building five more SMC convention centers next year, four of which are opening around the last quarter of next year.

The new SMX convention centers are located in Cebu (at the reclaimed seaside area where SM Seaside and Robinsons Land’s Nustar Hotel is located), Cabanatuan, Sto. Tomas and Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The fifth SMX Convention Center, Pacis said, is the SMXCITE, which broke ground in May this year and will cost around P1.7 billion. It will have a much bigger capacity for up to 21,000 visitors.

The two-story SMXCITE, which will have a mezzanine, she added, would complement the nearby SMX Manila, but would be geared more for large exhibitions and trade halls instead of conference halls, “because we feel that a lot of the international organizers cannot come in because we don’t have enough space.”