AYALA Land Hotels and Resorts Inc. said it will open its seventh homegrown brand Seda hotels by October this year, as the western Visayas is experiencing a booming economy.
Seda Capitol Central in Bacolod City will have 154 rooms catering largely to business travelers, the company said.
By 2021, Bacolod will join the ranks of the top 5 cities in the Visayas and Mindanao with the largest office gross floor areas catering mostly to business-process outsourcing firms seeking provincial sites. Cebu City will still be the top followed by Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Bacolod following in that order.
“Anticipating this economic growth, Seda began establishing properties as early as 2013 in the two key Mindanao cities; in Iloilo, last year; and now, in Bacolod,” said Al Legaspi, AyalaLand Hotels president and CEO.
Seda’s Cebu property is already under development while more new properties are being planned, while other Seda hotels are located in Taguig, Nuvali and Quezon City, he said.
The company said its goal is to become the preferred hospitality brand in the country catering to both local and global travelers. Seda Capitol Central will increase the brand’s room inventory to more than 1,400. It is part of a 9-hectare Ayala Land mixed-use development in a park that was once part of the centrally located provincial capital.
The estate is being developed into a new urban growth center serving the whole of Negros Occidental and will highlight a regional mall with a wide array of retail and shopping options a few steps away from Seda. It will also include offices and residential buildings.
Seda Capitol Central is the brand’s second hotel in the Visayas. According to a global real-estate services firm, homegrown brands, like Seda, are crucial in the tourism industry because they cater to a value-oriented market and other segments that international chains do not serve.
“Our growth has been highly organic and supported by the markets where we are located. We intend to continue that trend as we continue to expand,” Legaspi said.
Also under development are its first resort hotel in Palawan and other city hotels and serviced apartments in Metro Manila, bringing the total room inventory of the brand to 3,500 by 2019.