Glocalization, a portmanteau of globalization and localization, is a buzzword that refers to the increasing market advantage of local companies versus global ones. According to a study titled “The Glocal Strategy of Global Brands,” people now look for brands that make consumers feel part of a broader international community but at the same time ground them in their home culture. The concept encourages businesses to “think global, act local.”

Forging national identity

Local enterprises offer a unique and personal lens of a country, which branding-wise sets them apart from international competitors. This is because of the various benefits of going local, from escalating national economy to forging national identity and decreasing dependence on foreign countries.

A NielsenIQ investigation reveals that Covid-19 has become a tipping point for the rapid growth of local brands. Testament to the boom of local establishments is Megaworld Hotels & Resorts, one of the subsidiaries of Megaworld Corporation, the premier real estate arm of the conglomerate Alliance Global Group, Inc. (AGI).

The hotel group was established in 1999 with Richmonde Hotel Ortigas. In just 20 years, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts has emerged as the biggest homegrown hospitality brand in the Philippines with 4,000 room keys and counting.

“Behind every successful brand is a hardworking Filipino. It’s high time we took pride in our own and banner what’s ours,” says Cleofe Albiso, the first female general manager of Courtyard by Marriott, and now the managing director of Megaworld Hotels & Resorts.

Championing Filipino hospitality

“Filipino hospitality is a source of pride,” says Cleofe. Filipinos are known for being friendly people, for entertaining visitors warmly, regardless of the race, age, or gender. Guests are treated like family, which makes them feel at home wherever they are in the Philippines. This Filipino trademark is what Megaworld Hotels & Resorts tries to embody. “We promise that in every hotel visit, guests may walk through their doors and experience the joys of being home.”

Each property, a showcase of the Philippines

Megaworld Hotels & Resorts consists of six distinct brands with 11 homegrown hotel properties, including Belmont Hotel Boracay and Manila; Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, Eastwood, and Iloilo; Savoy Hotel Boracay, Manila, and Mactan Newtown; Hotel Lucky Chinatown; Twin Lakes Hotel Tagaytay; and its latest addition Kingsford Hotel Manila.

Majority of these hotels are within Megaworld’s townships, allowing partner-investors to maximize profit from each venture. More important, each of these properties highlights the best of the best of their location.

Inspired by Iloilo’s reputation as the rice granary of Western Visayas, the Granary at the Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, for instance, is at par with the city’s gastronomic treasures, with its exemplary buffet of comfort food and exquisite dishes. The hotel is also known for enticing the local market with events like the annual Bugal sa Dinagyang, a pop-up retail that brings the spotlight to native brands including Balai Hablon, Obra Ilonggo, Hlgynn Clothing Co., and SAK-KO, to name a few.

A strong statement on sustainability, the certified eco-friendly Belmont Hotel Boracay, on the other hand, mimics the natural landscape of the island, lush and tranquil and unmistakably tropical, overlooking the sea as well as a golf course.

Along the streets of Reina Regente in Binondo, Manila is Hotel Lucky Chinatown. The hotel embraces the rich historical background of what is recognized as the oldest Chinatown heritage site in the world.

In Tagaytay, Twin Lakes Hotel is an eight-level architectural gem in paradise, overlooking Taal Lake and high up in the invigoratingly cool air, replete with its own community vineyard, where guests can go on grape harvest tours, a charming countryside experience.

More than a business

“More than a business, what we’re trying to do, even with the opening of Kingsford Hotel, is to spread hope. We opened at a time there were so many closures. A lot of people were on furlough and retrenched. But with this , we were able to hire those who lost their businesses and jobs,” says the hospitality industry veteran.

The newest hotel destination houses 529 rooms, three dining outlets, and a function hall that can accommodate up to 300 guests. Currently under construction next to Kingsford Hotel is one of the most promising developments of the group, the Grand Westside Hotel.

With 1,500 room keys, the 18-story, two-tower building is set to be the largest hotel residence in the Philippines. The Grand Westside Hotel is nestled in Westside City, a burgeoning 31-hectare township owned by Megaworld Corporation within Entertainment City in Parañaque. It is surrounded by lifestyle malls, leisure centers, offices, and other upscale residential buildings and hotels. The condominium hotel’s strategic location affords homeowners and guests views of the soul-stirring Manila Bay sunset.

Aside from Grand Westside Hotel, Chancellor Hotel Boracay Newcoast and Mactan Belmont Luxury Hotel are also in the works. With these properties, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts is expected to have a total of 7,500 room keys in the next couple of years.

“There are a lot of innovations that we try to imbue in each development. More facilities and amenities are coming. All properties will have spa services that adhere to pandemic measures,” Cleofe says concerning the constant improvements of Megaworld Hotels & Resorts’ properties.

Circle of Happiness

To instill cohesiveness into all its unique brands under Megaworld Hotels & Resorts, a brand book was created. Called “The Circle of Happiness,” the program revolves around four pillars namely, love for self, others, work, and country. This four-fold inter-related dimension is centered on love for God.

Each employee undergoes thorough product and service training. From the pool of employees, with potential fully tapped, homegrown talents and Filipino leaders are being groomed.

Established in the 1990s, Megaworld Corporation, the Philippines’ most awarded township developer, has faced great calamities, such as the Central Luzon earthquake, the Mount Pinatubo eruption, the Taal Volcano eruption, and political turbulence. Through these challenges, including those posed by the ongoing pandemic, its chairman Andrew Tan has been firm in supporting his people. There have been no layoffs.

Cleofe credits the survival of the group to the collaborative efforts of its leaders and employees, as well as the alignment with the government agencies such as the Department of Tourism.

Megaworld Hotels & Resorts envisions continuous growth and expansion, not only as a business but also to provide immediate jobs for the Filipinos who need them, spearhead sustainability projects that protects and nurtures the environment, and deliver localized humanitarian assistance and enriching youth development programs.

As a 100 percent homegrown brand, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts celebrates a culture of service excellence driven by heartfelt service, an innate trait that Filipinos are best known for. “The Filipinos are among the most hospitable people in the world. This is what we do best."