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CNN Philippines
  • 8/8/2023
Makati Shangri-La's doors are open again after over two years of temporary closure due to "low business levels.”

We find out more about the hotel's revival from Shangri-La Group Philippines Vice President for Operations John Rice.

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00:00 Makati Shangri-La's doors are open again after over two years of temporary closure
00:06 due to low business levels. We find out more about the hotel's revival
00:10 from Shangri-La Group Philippines Vice President for Operations, John Rice.
00:16 John, welcome to the final word and congratulations.
00:19 Right, thanks very much Rico. It's great to be here with you and
00:23 I mean it's been an incredibly, incredibly amazing day.
00:27 Wow, it looks like a big sigh of relief.
00:29 It was, yeah. Well, not just for me but I think for a lot of guests as well.
00:33 I know, for old and new guests, finally it has reopened after more than two years of closure.
00:39 Exactly.
00:39 Everyone was hoping and praying when will be the time that Shangri-La Makati will be
00:44 reopening its doors. And now's the time.
00:47 Well, it's been two and a half years and you know, certainly when we temporarily suspended
00:54 operations back in 2021, the intention was always to reopen and now that's today, the 8th of August.
01:02 So it's incredible. It's been a long time and there's a lot of relief.
01:08 It's an auspicious month, an auspicious day.
01:10 Exactly.
01:10 8/8.
01:10 Exactly.
01:11 2023. So how are the crowds today?
01:14 Crowds were great. It was good to see a lot of familiar faces. In
01:19 talking to the colleagues at the hotel, a lot of familiar faces came through the front doors.
01:23 In fact, we officially opened it at 8.08 this morning.
01:26 And there were four people waiting to come in and they sat in their favourite seat in the lobby
01:31 lounge. So that was fantastic.
01:33 Okay. At least we know that the lobby lounge is now open.
01:36 Which other food establishments can old and new guests eat in now that the hotel has reopened?
01:46 Well, the openings will be a gradual ramp up and that will progress through until
01:51 Q4 this year and of course Q1 next year. But in terms of outlets, dining outlets,
01:55 we have our Shang Palace, which is reopening.
01:58 A famous Chinese restaurant.
01:59 Famous Chinese restaurant for authentic Cantonese cuisine and lovely dim sum.
02:04 And of course, we have Sage, Sage Grill. There'll be a strong focus there on fish,
02:10 on meat, very simply done. Great presentation, heaps of flavour.
02:15 And we've got a new bread that we'll be serving guests that
02:19 will become everyone's firm favourite very quickly.
02:21 What about the famous buffet restaurant, Circles?
02:26 When will that reopen or has it already opened?
02:28 Circles will reopen in Q4 of this year.
02:31 Reopening Makati Shangla, and I'm sure you're familiar with the property.
02:36 It's a big hotel. So of course, we couldn't open the doors and have
02:41 all services and facilities available immediately.
02:43 So we've prioritised that and we've prioritised on areas where we feel that
02:49 guests would most look forward to.
02:52 And of course, Circles will open in time for our Christmas tree lighting and the Christmas season.
02:57 Well, everyone will be looking forward to that.
02:59 But what was really the path, John, in reopening Makati Shangla after
03:05 more than two and a half years of closure due to the pandemic?
03:09 When was that decision made?
03:12 It's time to reopen the hotel.
03:14 It wasn't, first of all, it wasn't an easy decision to temporarily suspend operations.
03:19 So the thought's been at the back of our mind since that day on when we would reopen.
03:24 If we look at the economic indicators here in the Philippines, they're projecting upwards,
03:30 they're trending upwards, very positive for the last few quarters.
03:33 And also the recent news in July, visitor arrivals in the Philippines,
03:38 international visitor arrivals have hit three million.
03:41 And the target for this year is, I believe, 4.8 million.
03:45 So that's a great indicator.
03:47 What's another indicator, the success and the occupancy rates of
03:53 Shang Fort, you also had Edsa Shang and Edsa in Boracay and Mactan, which never closed, by the way.
04:03 Never closed, exactly.
04:05 We operate three large hotels, including Makati, Shangri-La, Manila.
04:09 We've got our two resorts.
04:10 Business levels are back almost to 2019.
04:15 And the general consensus when you look at the hospitality industry in the Philippines is
04:20 it's a very optimistic outlook and business is trending very well.
04:24 OK, definitely leisure is on the uptrend, staycations, a lot of travelers from here
04:32 and overseas. What about business travel?
04:36 Is it back to pre-pandemic levels?
04:38 Because Makati Shangri-La is also a business hotel.
04:41 Exactly.
04:41 Business and corporate travel is trending upwards.
04:46 Leisure, of course, took a big kick when it came to the pandemic and is an incredibly growing market.
04:53 There is a new market with leisure travel where business travel is combined with leisure travel.
05:00 So that collectively together is starting to represent a very large segment.
05:04 Corporate travel itself, we've noticed that frequency of travel has come down a little
05:11 bit, but the length of stay has increased.
05:13 And of course, a destination like the Philippines with the domestic market that the Philippines has,
05:18 it's just growing and growing.
05:20 Six hundred and ninety six total rooms at the Makati Shangri-La are all now available for
05:29 occupancy. They will be available progressively.
05:32 Given the size of the property and the length of the downtime that we've had, we've had to
05:38 bring a lot of colleagues on board to prepare the property again.
05:42 We did when we did temporarily suspend operations, we had a core group of colleagues that maintain
05:47 the property. But since then, now that we're reopening, we have to ramp up slowly because
05:53 one of our intentions is to make sure that that sort of nostalgic feel, the elevated
05:58 levels of service and the luxury of Makati Shangri-La is retained.
06:03 And we want to make sure that everybody that comes through the front doors of Makati Shangri-La
06:07 get to experience that from day one.
06:09 So the ramp up will be progressive and that will be in terms of our guest rooms, that
06:14 will be in terms of our food and beverage outlets.
06:15 Out of the six hundred and ninety six hotel rooms, how many rooms are now available for
06:21 occupancy?
06:22 We'll be opening with our horizon floors initially, and that represents a large percentage
06:26 of our inventory. And then we will progressively go into suites and the lower category floors,
06:32 which will be our deluxe rooms. And those floors target our conference and incentive
06:37 market.
06:38 And so far, the rooms that are open for occupancy, are they already fully booked?
06:43 Fully booked.
06:44 Until when?
06:45 Hopefully they'll continue to be fully booked.
06:50 Okay. So several rooms, I mean a lot of rooms in the hundreds I'm sure are now currently
06:56 occupied. Some of your food establishments. What new innovations, what new facilities
07:03 can all new guests expect from the Makati Shangri-La now that you have reopened your
07:08 doors?
07:09 Well, first of all, we went through a number of challenging years and therefore we've
07:15 had to strike a fine balance with the areas that we focus on.
07:19 So what we've done is we've prioritised those guest facing areas that we feel will
07:25 have the biggest impact on the guest experience.
07:27 As a result of...
07:28 Are you speaking Ayala Avenue?
07:29 Ayala and Makati Avenue.
07:31 Makati Avenue.
07:32 Both avenues. Both avenues. And the fountain.
07:35 So what we've done is we've made sure all the guest rooms will go through progressively
07:40 a comprehensive preventive maintenance program. Given our location in the Makati Business
07:45 District, corporate business has always been one of our focal points. So we'll be introducing
07:51 what we call a horizon business room. And that will be an incredible room. I tried one
07:58 out the other day and we're putting in an ergonomic desk and an adjustable desk, ergonomic
08:05 chair, twin monitors, speakerphone, great keyboard, nice mouse. And we're gradually
08:14 targeting more of those rooms for our business clientele.
08:17 Well, from February of 2021 all the way up until August of 2023, a lot of upgrades and
08:25 new technologies have already been introduced during the pandemic.
08:30 Exactly. I think one of the benefits of the pandemic, if there was a benefit out of it,
08:35 was the accentuation of IT and automation. And we've been able to harness some of that
08:42 and some of that will be on display in Makati Shangri-La.
08:46 So with technological innovations, it will give a new look and feel, especially for the
08:52 business travelers.
08:53 Definitely. And I think it'll allow people to serve themselves the way they want to be
08:58 served and determine the level of service they want. But we're using that as a way to
09:03 improve the level of service and improve our guests, our overall guest experience.
09:10 What about, that's for the business travelers, what about for the leisure travelers,
09:14 the staycationers who would like to stay at the Makati Shangri-La over the weekend?
09:22 What new experiences do they have?
09:24 I think what we did notice, one of the trends over the pandemic was that people's priorities
09:30 changed. And you're right, one of those priorities is now leisure travel, me time and
09:35 family time. We've got incredible facilities at Makati Shangri-La. We've got a beautiful
09:40 swimming pool, got our tennis courts, we've got our health club. We're right in the middle
09:44 of Makati shopping district. So there's a lot of services and facilities that families
09:50 can use and enjoy. And of course, we'll have circles at the end of the year, our famous
09:56 buffet, that people can have a lovely breakfast and enjoy lunch and dinner.
10:00 And of course, over the past several years, we have a lot of hotel properties, always
10:06 focusing now on sustainability. What initiatives has Makati Shangri-La initiated in terms of
10:15 sustainability programs now that you have reopened?
10:19 We have a big target on single-use plastics. So guests will notice an amenities change
10:24 in the guest rooms. We've also installed two EV charges in our basement level. So for
10:31 those guests who drive electric cars, they can park in our garage and recharge. We're
10:38 also introducing plant-based menus in some of our outlets and plant-based dishes. So
10:44 we're taking a nod towards that angle of tourism and that angle of leisure. And that
10:51 will just become part of our everyday fabric in how we operate the hotel.
10:55 And what about our community-driven activities? Which measures or programs are you initiating
11:02 for the community in Makati?
11:04 Well, Makati Shangri-La has been open for in excess of 30 years and we've really appreciated
11:10 the support of the community. So one of our targets now that we're open is to re-immerse
11:15 ourselves into the community. And one of the steps or one of the directions that we've
11:20 taken with that is we've partnered with the University of Makati and we've set up a
11:25 vocational program and an internship program with a view of being able to employ graduates
11:30 from that university moving forward.
11:32 And a lot of analysts are saying, particularly the hotel watchers, saying that with the closure
11:38 of Makati Shangri-La, you have been left behind. But now that you have reopened, are you now
11:43 back surging to the top?
11:45 We're surging to the top. I think it's great to see all hotels doing well because if we
11:51 take that ecosystem approach and all hotels do well, we can help each other, learn off
11:55 each other, and that's great for business in the Philippines.
11:58 Thank you so much for joining us on The Final Word. And congratulations on the reopening
12:03 of Makati Shangri-La.
12:04 Thank you very much. And it's great to have the hotel open again.
12:07 John Rice, Vice President for Operations of the Shangri-La Group Philippines.
12:12 Thank you very much, Rico.

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