By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
PANGLAO, BOHOL — The first hotel in Panglao Shores is expected to open its doors by the first quarter of 2024.
The tourism arm of Alturas Group of Companies last week launched Panglao Shores, a 50-hectare mixed-use estate that will have six hotels and resorts, as well as a residential and retail area.
Panglao Shores’ first hotel will have 188 room keys. It will be an expansion of South Palms Resort Panglao which currently has 78 rooms and villas.
The new hotel will be managed by an international company, said Hope Marie R. Uy, managing director of Panglao Shores and South Palms Resort. She declined to name the company.
“We are already building the hotel, we are actually already 50% done with the construction,” Ms. Uy said.
Panglao Shores will also have 37,000 square meters (sq.m.) of commercial space, over 1,000 residential units, 27-sq.m. communal area, international convention center, farmers market and community green spaces, international medical facility, among others.
Ms. Uy said this development will help Bohol achieve its goal of attracting more meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.
“Definitely we need a bigger communal area for events and conferences as I don’t think we have that here yet in Bohol,” she added.
The community estate aims to mirror the sustainability agenda and circular economy in its existing property called South Farm Panglao-Bohol where waste is recycled.
Bill Barnett, managing director of the estate’s lead consultant C9 Hotelworks, said that being sustainable is not only a conscientious choice but also helps reduce costs.
“If I have an energy-efficient hotel, my hotel will have lower operating costs,” Mr. Barnett said.
“Although you have to continue to invest in the technology, there is a return. The return is not only doing the good thing but there’s also an economic model on the return of investment,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ms. Uy said that having a solar-powered hotel is achievable as the group already tried it in one of its farms.
“We have livestock farms located in Bohol and one of these farms is solar-powered so we already have a success story. An almost 100%-solar-powered pig farm, that’s already a success story,” she said.
The whole estate will incorporate international building standards and materials.
Panglao Shores will also make use of smart technologies, electric transport and water treatment, reduce waste, and will eliminate single-use plastics.
The Alturas group plans to finish the whole project in two phases within 10 years. The initial phase includes all initial infrastructure needs like roads, as well as the first hotel.
“In our timetable, we are hoping that we are able to establish this project in 10 years. Early next year we are opening our first resort, and phase two is coming up with the commercial zone and hopefully by 2033 we’re all up,” Ms. Uy said.
Panglao Shores is a flagship project under the Tourism Infrastructure & Enterprise Zone Authority which aims to deliver outstanding economic and social benefits to their destinations. It will be under Panglao Bay Premiere Parks and Resorts Corp., a subsidiary of Alturas Group.
