Villa Escudero Corporation (VESCO) said it goals to expand its business portfolio and resort facilities this 12 months to offset declining guest bookings linked to rising fuel prices.
“Villa Escudero’s principal core business is the plantation and resort,” VESCO Business Development Strategist and Head of Business Leasing Daniel Placido A. Escudero told BusinessWorld in an interview.
“We’re significantly affected by the rise in fuel prices. On the resort, we’ve noticed a negative trend on the subject of visitors, and we attribute it to the rise in fuel costs,” he added.
Before becoming a tourist spot in Southern Luzon, Villa Escudero was known for its sugarcane plantation, founded within the 1800s. Within the Nineteen Nineties, the kids of Don Placido Escudero and Dona Claudia Marasigan shifted into coconut crops.
In 1981, the family officially opened its 800-hectare estate to the general public, including its resort, and it became a well-liked destination for locals and foreigners.
After establishing itself as a key destination in Quezon province through the years, the resort has recently seen a 30% decline in guest numbers and cites the pump price hike because the principal cause.
“Our principal clientele is from the Metro Manila area, coming here, their gas prices for fuel are really high. Our guest count really went down,” Mr. Escudero said.
Despite the decline, Villa Escudero stays committed to adding more facilities to its campsite and resort cottages and maintains optimism that it may possibly get better from the consequences of the oil crisis.
“We still have [expansion] plans because we anticipate that this fuel crisis is temporary,” Mr. Escudero said. “And even when it does stay for an extended time, the community will adapt to a brand new normal on methods to operate beyond the rise in fuel prices and logistics.”
Other than resort expansion, VESCO goals to diversify its portfolio by venturing into retail operations.
“The pandemic has shown us that we cannot just depend on tourism as our principal bread and butter,” Mr. Escudero said.
“We’re opening as much as land development for industrial purposes to principally diversify our portfolio and invite latest businesses to operate in our land assets,” he added.
Last week, VESCO officially launched its nine-hectare premier mixed-use industrial hub, The Central. The hub is directly adjoining to the upcoming South Luzon Expressway Toll Road Phase 4 (SLEX TR-4) interchange, and goals to drive the province’s economy.
“Tiaong was referred to as a really sleepy town, but now, there are numerous industries and industrial establishments which might be being built,” Mr. Escudero said. “With the event of the SLEX TR-4, we are able to see that the event goes southwards.”
The Central will undergo nine construction phases, with the primary phase scheduled to complete in Q3 of 2026 and overall project completion in 2028. — Almira Louise S. Martinez