Category: Review

JG Summit Holdings (JGS) will invest PhP6 billion for the construction of 30 budget hotels over the next four years to complement its budget airline business as the company anticipates robust tourism trade in the country.

JG Summit president and COO Lance Gokongwei described tourism as a natural third leg of the Philippine economy next to overseas Filipino workers and BPO.

Oakwood Premier Joy Nostalg Center Manila which is based in Ortigas now enjoys an 80-percent occupancy rate, less than a year after its opening, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

Korean property developer M Castle has signed a contract with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to develop a US$1-billion resort complex on a 615-hectare beach front property between the free port and Morong town.

Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc. has announced the first concrete pouring for its US$1 billion Entertainment City Project in Parañaque City.  The project is expected to generate some 4,000 jobs once it starts operations by the third or fourth quarter of 2012. 

South of Manila is Makati City, considered as the financial capital of the country. Along Ayala Avenue rise modern skyscrapers, which are home to multinational companies, foreign embassies and local banks. The trendiest leisure spots – hotels, restaurants, bars, music lounges, fashion boutiques and department stores – converge around the sleek Ayala Center and Greenbelt. Across EDSA is the posh subdivision of Forbes Park, home of the country's rich and famous. One area that now competes with Makati in terms of its modern architectural landscape is the Ortigas Center between Mandaluyong City and Pasig City. Home to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), it is also the site of three of the country's richest shopping malls – SM Megamall, Robinson's Galleria, and Shangri-la EDSA Plaza.Also within Ortigas is the striking leisure enclave, Saint Francis Square, with its fine restaurants and fashionable music lounges.