A P25-Billion Resort Town Is Rising in Bohol
Bohol is positioning itself as the next big thing in Central Visayas. A Bohol-based conglomerate has announced its plan to build a P25 billion ($477 million) resort development in Bohol. The Alturas Group's Panglao Shores community development will span 57 hectares and will be comprised of six hotels and resorts.
Unlike South Palms, a popular resort also owned by the group, Panglao Shores plans to be more than a resort. It is projected to be a low-density mixed-used development comprised of multiple hotels and resorts occuping 37,000 square meters of retail and commercial space with over 1,000 residential units. There are also plans to construct an international medical facility, international convention center, town square, retail mall, night market, beach club, farmers market, and green spaces. In short, Panglao Shores will be its own mini-city in the heart of Bohol.
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The first hotel, called South Palms Resort, will comprise 188 rooms and will open in early 2024, but the entire development is expected to be completed in 10 years' time. Panglao Shores is, for now, owned solely by Alturas Group, which is also the landowner of the giant expanse of beachfront property on the southern coast of Bohol. The Group is owned by the Uy family, who also own numerous malls, resorts, restaurants, agricultural companies, and manufacturing companies in Bohol.
Panglao Shores was inspired by South Farm, a community built by Alturas during the pandemic as a way to keep their staff employed. With South Palms closed during lockdown, hotel employees went from cleaning rooms to planting vegetables and tending livestock. Everyone, from hotel drivers to marketing executives, got their hands dirty at South Farm, which became a place of healing for the Alturas Group. Dubbed the company’s passion project, South Farm is comprised of prawn farms, tilapia lakes, rabbit gardens, pottery centers, and more. While the country was struggling with the pandemic, Alturas Group and its employees congregated at South Farm, and from that, the idea of Panglao Shores was born.
“It was an epiphany for us, a real moment of awakening,” said Hope Uy, CEO of Panglao Shores. “The realization was that here was an opportunity to create a generational product, inspired by Bohol, on a scale that would enable a fully-integrated community to flourish with sustainability at its core.”
While the development is a large undertaking, Panglao Shores will be committed to sustainable development and community integration. The village centers and farmer's market will connect tourists with locals, the resorts will be connected with green walkways displaying local flora, and raw goods and food will be sourced from native farmers and fishing communities to boost the local supply chain. Thousands of Boholanos will be employed to construct and serve Panglao Shores.
As for international eco-building standards, Panglao Shores will be employing environmental design solutions like solar harvesting, smart technologies, electric transport, waste reduction, water treatment, and other practices that align with their ethos of “being a good neighbor.” Influenced by developments in Bali and Phuket, the master plan of Panglao Shores will combine tourism and hospitality with sustainability in its DNA. Alturas tapped London-based sustainability experts, XCO2, and master planners SCSY from Singapore.
Designed to be a multi-generational family business, Panglao Shores was conceived by Panglao Bay Premiere Parks & Resorts Corp, a subsidiary of Alturas Group of Companies (AGC), and is a flagship project under the Tourism Infrastructure & Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).
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