Notable honors for PH’s leading homegrown hotel brand
Megaworld Hotels & Resorts (MHR) continues to solidify its leadership in Philippine hospitality as it bagged prestigious accolades from reputable award-giving bodies—all in the same week.
Notable honors
At the 12th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards last week, parent firm Megaworld Corp. was named Best Hospitality Developer while MHR was recognized for having the Best Operational Hospitality Portfolio. Grand Westside Hotel, its newest and largest hotel to open to date, was named Best Hotel Development, whereas Kingsford Hotel Bacolod garnered a Highly Commended citation for Best Hotel Interior Design.
Earlier that week, MHR also took home the most coveted title of being the Philippines’ Leading Hotel Group at the 31st World Travel Awards, which was held for the first time in the country.
The country’s largest hotel operator with 13 hotels and more than 8,500 room keys was celebrated for its unique approach to hospitality, exemplified by its signature brand of service, Sampaguita, which emphasizes warm Filipino hospitality.
“The award is another platform for us to be heard, seen and felt in the global hospitality landscape as a brand that’s truly Filipino. With the Sampaguita, as the cornerstone of our brand of service, we celebrate this our associates and leaders who have found home in us and who continuously strived to take care of the trust of our various stakeholders,” MHR managing director Cleofe Albiso said of their recognition at the World Travel Awards.
This—among the many other distinctions that the Philippines received that night—recognized MHR as among the “stellar examples of tourism excellence” in Asia and Oceania.
Besides MHR, other international and homegrown hotel players in the country were conferred highly coveted plums. The Philippines, as a country, garnered notable recognitions that cemented its reputation as a premier travel destination in the region. These include: Asia’s Leading Marketing Campaign for Love Philippines; Asia’s Leading Beach Destination; Asia’s Leading Dive Destination and Asia’s Leading Island Destination. Boracay was named Asia’s Leading Luxury Island Destination; Intramuros was Asia’s Leading Tourist Attraction; whereas Cebu was named as Asia’s Leading Wedding Destination.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco was likewise awarded the Transformational Leader Award in Tourism Governance at the World Travel Awards.
Well aligned strategy
According to Albiso, the group is blessed to have a well aligned strategy coming from their chairman Andrew Tan, Alliance Global Inc. CEO Kevin Tan, and Megaworld Corp. president Lourdes Gutierrez Alfonso, who have all put tourism and hospitality as a key pillar in the company’s thrust to contribute to the economy.
“The exciting projects we have in the pipeline, like our recently opened Grand Westside Hotel along with our soon-to-open hotels and the ones under construction, will not only enable and capacitate the country to host bigger MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) events, but will also make hospitality and tourism facilities available in emerging destinations around the Philippines. It’s a commitment that we are honored to take on as the company’s hotel management and operating arm,” she explained.
In the coming years, Albiso said a lot of focus will be given to forging partnerships that will pave new pathways for MHR’s continued growth and development.
“We will continue to evolve and we will continue to find ways to be better. We are committed to defining what Filipino hospitality truly means,” Albiso concluded.
