Non-traditional solutions push hotel revenues up

After a bad year in 2009 with a 16 percent decline in revenues, Waterfront Philippines, Inc. showed stronger figures for 2010, which was an outcome of a combined resilience and the employment of non-traditional distribution channels.

Employing non-tradional distribution channels such as maximizing online bookings through websites helped the company to positive revenues, said Kenneth Gatchalian,  Waterfront Philippines, Inc. president.

Gatchalian announced the firm’s positive development during the stockholder’s meeting held at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel on Friday.

SOLUTIONS

“These days we are seeing that new solutions we came up with during the 2009 crisis have proven to be timely and valuable to the company as it re-emerges alongside the travel and hospitality industry upswing,” Gatchalian said.

“While keeping our traditional channels like the travel agencies and corporate accounts strong, we developed our non-traditional distribution channels aggressively such as using the Internet to propel revenues through our web page bookings, maximizing the potential of our fully-integrated 24 hours 7 days a week Central Reservations Office,” he said.

The Waterfront Hotel’s toll-free reservations line, which is the first of its kind in the country, delivered significant results and has become a principal source of revenue generating its own steady stream of sales for the company.

TREND

“This year alone we were able to process 115,705 calls. Our non-traditional channels produced a significant growth rate for both room nights and revenues across the different distribution channels,” he said.

The Waterfront president also cited the stabilizing trend in the industry experienced by stakeholders.

“Reflecting on the overall stabilizing trend, Waterfront Philippines this year showed steady figures. Our GOP (Gross Operating Profit) is at P389.01 million. Hotel operations generated positive revenue of P1.93 billion, a positive increase of 3.10 percent from 2009’s P1.87 billion,” he said.

Room revenues contributed about 33 percent or P646.70 million while F&B or Food and Beverage revenues make up for 30 percent or P587.64 million.

Of the hotel chains, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino has the biggest contribution of 39 percent or P746.62 million followed by Manila Pavilion Hotel with P609.88 million or 32 percent.

DISTRIBUTION

Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino gave 13 percent or P249.06 million while Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao and G Hotel Manila gave 8 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

The hotel’s Global Distribution System also showed a growth rate of 131 percent in room nights and 94 percent in revenues. This means that room nights increased from 913 in 2009 to 2,106 in 2010 or an increase in revenues from P3 million in 2009 to P5.8 million in 2010.

“In terms of Alternative Distribution System, there was a growth of 104 percent in room nights from 20,081 in 2009 to 40,971 in 2010 and an increase in revenue of 88 percent from only P49.5 million in 2009 to P93.2 million in 2010,” Gatchalian said.

BOOKINGS

Bookings from their website also showed increased bookings from 3,261 room nights in 2009 to 3,701 in 2010 and a noted 20% revenue increase from 2009’s P9.2 million to P10.9 million in 2010.

Gatchalian said that aside from focusing on the usual markets in the Southeast Asian region, they also went into alternative markets such as the Middle East, which showed a very positive response.

“We send representatives to trade shows, developing key linkages and increasing promotion efforts. We continue to express genuine interest in developing these markets as they comprise the future growth of our industry,” he said.

Waterfront Philippines chairman Renato Magadia said the hotel remained confident of the prospects of tourism in the industry especially in Cebu, where major renovations were implemented at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.