AN international hotel-chain operator is reportedly putting up the first high-end hotel in Iloilo City inside an old airport property acquired last year by Megaworld Corp., the Philippines’ second-largest real-estate developer.

Marriott Hotels and Resorts was among the first groups that negotiated a lease agreement with Megaworld, which bought the 54-hectare old airport, Benito T. Jimena, Iloilo City tourism officer, said.

The city official said the entry of Marriott into Iloilo will address its deficiency in deluxe-room accommodations for foreign tourists, especially during January, its festival month. Iloilo City is short of about 2,000 hotel rooms during the period, Jimena said.

“They [Marriott] will have their own market, because there is still no high-end hotel in Iloilo City,” Jimena told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) Governance Forum at the Hotel Sofitel.

Besides attracting an estimated 300,000 foreign tourists per year, the city also serves as the gateway for other major destinations in the region, such as Guimaras.

In 2007 tourism arrival in the city increased by 22 percent from 2006, with local tourists estimated at 2 million.

Currently, the biggest hotel in Iloilo is the Sarabia Hotel with 300 rooms.

According to Jimena, the international hotel-chain operator, which manages more than 500 hotels worldwide, is planning to start construction within the year.

Even though the city has yet to be informed of the proposed project’s specific details, Iloilo city has dangled multiple incentives to the company to entice it to begin development the soonest, Jimena said.

Megaworld, which bought the old airport from the Air Transportation Office last year for P1.2 billion, has allotted P1.7 billion to begin the area’s development which started in January, he said.

Among the facilities expected to be established include a hospital, a theme park, an IT park, commercial shops and other mixed-use buildings.

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SENIOR officials of Asian economies will draft a second report pertaining to proposed free-trade agreements as part of their preparations for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit in Peru late this year.

AN international hotel-chain operator is reportedly putting up the first high-end hotel in Iloilo City inside an old airport property acquired last year by Megaworld Corp., the Philippines’ second-largest real-estate developer.

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