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Bustling, cosmopolitan Manila is the second-largest city of the
Philippines. About 1.7 million people live within its city limits, but
larger Metro Manila comprises 16 cities with a population of more
than 12 million.
“You Are the First Person”
Novotel Suites Manila offers hotel rooms (it is affiliated with the
Accorbrand), as well as fractional ownership sales. The fractional compo-
nent consists of 152 units, which are being sold as quarter-shares,
deeded in perpetuity. Four weeks are available for the owner’s use,
while the remaining nine are placed in the hotel rental pool, with 40 per-
cent of revenues going back to the owner.
“That’s top-line, not after we take expenses,” Hallett explains. “We
wanted to make it easy. If you are an owner with us, you share in the
revenue. You are the first person we will pay.”
The core value to potential buyers, says Hallett, “is to have a hassle-
free purchase that gives them regular, managed rental income with no
worries about leasing out a condo or paying a manager. It’s a very sim-
ple vision.”
The formula works so well that overseas purchasers represent 70
percent of the company’s sales. “We have sales offices around the
world and multiple sales teams,” he explains. Salespeople use per-
sonal presentations on-site — employing meticulously crafted,
Hollywood-quality videos — as well as direct mail, print and electronic
advertising, social media, and other channels.
The product is relatively new for Accor and for the Asian market,
Hallett acknowledges, but predicts it will be successful. “Having the
hotel component means an apartment can be customized for a longer
guest stay,” he says.
The Language of Home
The developer is actively targeting
balikbayans
,
the large group of Philippine nationals who have
moved out of the country for work or other rea-
sons, Hallett says. They are understandably
nostalgic for their homeland, and frequently
return to visit family and friends, he adds.
The Philippine government encourages
their frequent return by allowing visa-free entry
(with some exceptions) for Filipino overseas
workers, citizens who’ve been continuously out
of the country for at least one year, and former
citizens who’ve been naturalized in a foreign
country, a government website explains. The
program also includes tax-exempt shopping
for some items and other privileges.
In the Philippines, “There’s a whole lan-
guage about coming back home,” Hallett
explains, adding that most balikbayans work at
jobs that allow three- to four-week vacations each year. “It plays into
our strategy for the project. They can come back and enjoy four full
weeks, as well as a share of the revenue. If they don’t come back, they
are able to exchange through Interval.”
With their fractional purchase, buyers receive five years’ compli-
mentary Interval membership, as well as an Accor Plus membership,
which gives them access and preferred rates at 600 Accor hotels in the
Asia/Pacific region. Hallett predicts they will use both liberally.
Freedom to Choose
Tourism in Asia in general, and in the Philippines in particular, is on the
rise. In 2013, as the global economy continued accelerating in the
wake of the Great Recession, the Philippines saw almost a 10-percent
increase in foreign arrivals, welcoming nearly 4.7 million international
visitors, and surpassing 4.2 million arrivals in 2012. Tourist arrivals are
projected to increase 4 percent annually until at least 2030, according
to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
In the next five years, tourism will most likely increase dramatically
both in the Philippines and in Manila, Hallett says. “People have global
aspirations to travel; this is the age of the perpetual traveler. If we live
this urban lifestyle, and we want to go to the countryside, what do we
do? We jump in a car or on a plane,” he says. “The global culture today
is a travel culture.”
The aspirational nature of today’s traveler, combined with the qual-
ity of Interval’s resort network and travel-related services, was a key
factor when the developer was evaluating exchange partners, he adds.
“We chose Interval specifically because our purchasers are not just
buying a space, they’re buying an experience,” Hallett explains.
“Interval is an important part of our product,
because we purposely created it so that the
owner could see the value of those four weeks
— 28 nights — over 20 years. Interval provides
an enormous aspirational value.”
“Everybody wants the freedom to choose,”
Hallett says. “That’s where the market is now
and we believe it fits our core customer base.
Our owners don’t have to worry about a thing.
And, through Interval, they have additional
travel opportunities. It’s very convenient.”
Catherine Lackner, based in Miami, Florida, writes
for newspapers, magazines, and various media,
and has been covering the vacation ownership
industry for 11 years.
See page 2 for currency conversions.
41
Developer:
Century Acqua Lifestyle
Corporation
Product:
Fractional quarter-share,
deeded in perpetuity
Units:
122 studios, 10 one-bedroom
Deluxe, 10 one-bedroom Superior, and 10
one-bedroom Premier
Price:
Studio pricing starts at 2.2 million
Philippine pesos (approximately
US$48,000)
Website:
novotelsuitesmanila.com
Social Media:
Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube
Novotel Manila Suites
fast
facts
AN INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL MEMBER RESORT