Megaworld Corp. is further expanding its hospitality business by constructing more hotels in Palawan and Ilocos Norte, along with its current rollout in key tourism destinations in the country.
In a statement on Wednesday, the listed real-estate development concern majority led by business tycoon Andrew Tan, said this expansion plan will increase its number of hotel keys to 12,000 by 2032, from the current 8,700.
‘This expansion will include both Megaworld’s homegrown hotel brands and internationally branded brands, further strengthening the company’s position as the Philippines’s biggest developer and operator of hotel developments,’ said the company.
The news statement also confirms BusinessMirror’s earlier report that the company will be establishing Megaworld Global Hotels and Resorts (MGHR) and appointing two managing directors – Socrates ‘Sonny’ Alvaro and Anna Liza Vergara. (See, ‘Megaworld Hotels appoints new leaders,’ in the BusinessMirror, Aug. 20, 2026.)
MGHR oversees Megaworld Hotels and Resorts (MHR), which will manage its properites in Metro Manila, Boracay, Batangas, and Cebu, and Megaworld Global Hospitality (MGH), which will handle Mövenpick Manila Bay Westside, as well as the company’s new hotels in Palawan and three hotels in Iloilo namely, Courtyard by Marriot, Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, and Belmont Hotel Iloilo.
In this regard, Alvaro will manage the MHR properties and Vergara will manage the MGH hotels. Alvaro replaces Cleofe C. Albiso, MHR Managing Director, who is leaving the company at the end of August.
‘We see tourism as one of the most powerful engines of sustainable economic growth. Every hotel we build creates jobs, supports local businesses, brings visitors to new destinations, and opens more opportunities for communities to prosper,’ said Kevin L. Tan, president and chief executive officer of the Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI), parent company of Megaworld.
‘Through our expanding hospitality portfolio under MGHR, we want to help continue unlocking the immense tourism potential of the Philippines and bring more of our country’s destinations, culture, and world-class Filipino hospitality to travelers from around the globe.’
For her part, Megaworld President and CEO Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso said: ‘One of our biggest contributions to nation-building is to help make our tourism industry more vibrant and attractive, especially to foreign visitors. To support this goal of helping boost our country’s tourism, we are making this bold move of expanding our hospitality organization with established veterans and innovators in the global hotels and leisure industry.’
Meanwhile, Alvaro is a seasoned hotelier, having spent years in senior leadership roads in MHR. He has also worked for 20 years in various capacities in hospitality properties abroad, such as the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the Maldives, Thailand, and key destinations in Asia.
Vergara has worked for 32 years in the Philippine properties of Marriott International, a leading global hospitality chain. She is currently the general manager of Sheraton Manila at Newport City, a hotel also owned by AGI under its Travellers International unit.
In the first half of 2026, MHR recorded P3.1 billion in revenues, an 11-percent increase year on year, making the unit Megaworld’s fastest-growing recurring income segment.
The strong performance was driven by the opening of the 405-room Belmont Hotel Iloilo, the company’s third hotel within its 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park and now the largest hotel in Iloilo City in terms of room inventory, bringing Megaworld’s total hotel portfolio in the city to nearly 1,000 rooms.