Tune Hotels' rapid expansion in the Philippines is buoyed by faster-than-expected economic growth. Quezon City branch, 3rd in Manila and 6th in the country, recently opened its door to the public.

The Philippines and its people have all the great things coming their way with an economic wave that has driven direct investments into the country including by international hotel brand Tune Hotels, said its Group CEO Mark Lankester.

“This is a great market for us to do business. In less than two years we already have six hotels in operation in the Philippines, including the newly opened Tune Hotel Quezon City in Manila. Not to mention four more to come in Ortigas, Davao, Aseana City and Ayala Avenue in Metro Manila within the next nine months,” said Lankester.

The 140-room Tune Hotel Quezon City, located at Timog Avenue, is the group’s third hotel in Metro Manila. It opened its doors for business on October 8.

The first Tune Hotel in the Philippines opened at Angeles City in Pampanga in February 2012, followed by Ermita and Makati in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Cagayan De Oro.

International economic and financial agencies including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have revised the Philippines’ 2013 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth upward to 7 per cent from around 6 per cent previously. This makes the Philippines the second fastest growing economy in Asia after China, and ahead of all its Southeast Asian neighbors. The strong growth is forecast to be sustained into coming years.

“This is a really great year for the Philippines and its people. The economy is booming, there is a great mood amongst the people and there are plenty of new jobs being created. Tourism within and into the Philippines is expanding massively, with really successful government marketing campaigns and the recent lifting of the European flights will only help contribute further to the tourism economy. In addition Filipinos have also made their mark on the Regional and International arena,” he said in reference to Filipino personalities like Jonathan Yabut who emerged the first ever winner of ‘The Apprentice Asia’ and Miss World 2013 Megan Young.

“There is a noticeable mood in the air that it really is the time for the Philippines to shine.”

Lankester had played Advisor to Tony Fernandes on the first ever ‘The Apprentice Asia’, the regional adaptation of the US reality series ‘The Apprentice’ this year.

He added: “It is very interesting to note that the Philippines has surpassed India as Asia’s top call-centre service provider, proving that it has quality human capital that are capable of driving the country to the next level.”

The Philippines has set a target of 10 million international tourist arrivals by 2016, more than double the 4.3 million tourists it received in 2012. Arrivals for 2013 have been projected at 5.5 million, contributing some PHP 1.5 trillion or 6.7 per cent to the GDP.

“We are very pleased with the commitment shown by the Department of Tourism and the Government in not only setting targets but to undertake firm initiatives to facilitate further growth of the tourism and travel industry in the Philippines. The country has a lot to offer and is destined to be a favorite destination in the region.

“For Tune Hotels, we look forward to positively contributing towards this effort by providing international standard accommodation at highly affordable rates, giving international tourists and locals alike the holiday experience they deserve. It’s definitely ‘more fun in the Philippines’ with Tune Hotels,” said the CEO.

Tune Hotels provides international-class high-quality accommodation which focuses on key essentials but minus the generally underused facilities found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums. By doing away with these costly and high-maintenance facilities, Tune Hotels is able to pass on savings to its guests in the form of super low room rates. Its pay-as-you-use concept lets travelers choose and pay only for amenities that they require to keep costs down, reduce waste and save energy.

The group has received over five million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. With the opening of Quezon City, Tune Hotels now has six hotels in the Philippines, eleven in Malaysia, five each in the UK and Indonesia, four in Thailand, and one each in India, Japan and Australia. Apart from further expansion in these countries, future Tune Hotels are also being planned in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsPH and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.

For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.