Hotel101 aims for 1 million app users by yearend

HOTEL101 Global Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of property developer DoubleDragon Corp. (DD), expects its hotel application to have one million registered users by yearend as the company expands its customer base.

The property developer announced the forecast as the Hotel101 global (HBNB) app exceeded 500,000 registered users on Wednesday.

Over the near term, the HBNB app is expected to have at least one million users each from the Philippines and its first three overseas projects, DD said in a statement to the stock exchange.

The first three overseas projects are in Niseko, Japan; Madrid, Spain; and Los Angeles, United States, which are expected to generate $471 million in foreign currency revenues to DD.

“Hotel101 adopts dynamic pricing on its room rates via the HBNB app where its room price moves up and down depending on the real-time supply and demand on the chosen date of booking,” it said.

According to DD, the HBNB app is projected to have 25 million registered users across citizens of 25 different countries over the medium term.

The app is expected to have over 100 million users from the citizens of 100 countries over the long term.

Hotel101 Global Chief Executive Officer Hannah Yulo-Luccini said the app, which has a self-check-in feature, allows a seamless customer experience. The app can cater to room booking, check-in, check-out, and payment.

“The HBNB app is expected to become the most efficient and easiest to use hotel app globally. The Hotel101 Global hotel chain seeks to delight its customers by providing them with a completely predictable and consistent one room concept anywhere it locates around the world,” she said.

DD Chairman Edgar “Injap” J. Sia II said the plan for the HBNB app is to have over one million registered users in every country where the company operates.

Aside from its first three overseas projects, Hotel101 has plans to expand into United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

The company is also eyeing to enter Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France, and Saudi Arabia.

DD is targeting to have one million operating hotel rooms globally by 2050, of which 50,000 are in the Philippines.

Within the fourth quarter, Hotel101 is expected to list on NASDAQ in the US via a merger with JVSPAC Acquisition Corp. The combined entity will trade under the ticker symbol “HBNB,” making Hotel101 the first Philippine company to list in the US.

On Wednesday, DD shares dropped by 0.99% or 10 centavos to P10 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave