RESORT development is showing no signs of slowing down in Boracay, which received 854,468 tourist arrivals for the year as of August 28, a 36.2 per cent year-on-year increase, according to provincial government statistics.
Over the last few months, the most prominent high-end resort openings include Nandana Boracay (92 rooms) and The District Boracay (48 rooms).
Fairways & Bluewater, which recently added 113 keys to its 143 existing rooms, intends to pack on another 400 keys over the next few years. The property is also renovating its lobby area, restaurant and Graham Marsh-designed golf course, while a new conference venue is being built to complement an open-air pavilion and amphitheatre near its private beach, Paradise Cove.
Elsewhere, Paradise Garden Resort Hotel & Convention Center will launch 41 new rooms by Chinese New Year; Crown Regency Resort & Convention Center will add 254 rooms to its 267-room inventory by March 2013; while The Astoria Group previously added 30 rooms to the Astoria Boracay and will open a 100-room property in 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 13, 2012).
According to Wenie Maligaya, director of sales at Crown Regency Resort & Convention Center, which targets groups and incentives, corporate rates are pegged at PHP 5,000 (US$120) for two pax until further notice. The property is counting on new business with the recent opening of a 1,800m2 wave pool, ideal for surfing lessons.
Onelle Pacheco Verzosa, director of sales & marketing, Best Western Boracay Tropics, said promo packages and low season rates at her property were in effect till mid-October.
“We’ve relied on group business from Taiwan and South Korea (in the absence of Chinese business due to the ongoing territorial spat over Scarborough Shoal), and the local market has also provided good support,” she said.
