DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental — A new hotel will rise here to cater to the growing tourism industry as well as to boost the local economy.
The Dumaguete Cathedral Credit Cooperative (DCCCO), now a multi-purpose cooperative, on Monday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with G Uymatiao Jr. Construction for the building of the five-story hotel pegged at about PHP178.6 billion.
DCCCO chair of the Board of Directors William Ablong and Architect Gerard Uymatiao, project manager of G Uymatiao Jr. Construction, led the signing of the agreement which marks the start of the more than two years of construction of the hotel.
In a press conference after the signing of the agreement, Ablong said that after thorough consultations with the board, the cooperative had decided to build the hotel at a lot adjacent to its existing main building to respond to the growing need of additional accommodations.
“There were 1,300 tourist arrivals each day and there was not enough accommodation for them,” Ablong said, noting that is why “they go to Dauin and other nearby towns”.
He cited the 2015 figures of tourist arrivals here showing that Dumaguete City is the “gateway” of tourists coming to Negros Oriental and ranks third with the highest number of tourist arrivals in Central Visayas.
Ablong further said the multi-purpose cooperative intends to also help in the economic development of the city, as well the tourism sector, by building the hotel.
This is the first time that a multi-purpose cooperative is building a hotel in Dumaguete of this scope, he added.
The groundbreaking of the hotel will be sometime next month.
Standing on some 4,598 square meters, the hotel will boast of a 25-meter rooftop swimming pool, 54 different types of room, a concessionaire such as for a restaurant, a mezzanine function room, and a street-level, ground floor parking area that would accommodate at least 24 cars at one time. (Mary Judaline Partlow/PNA)