DOUBLEDRAGON’S subsidiary Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd. has officially reserved the Nasdaq stock exchange ticker symbol “HBNB”.
This step is in line towards Hotel101 Global’s previously announced special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listing preparations and given the latest progress, Hotel101 Global expects to sign with its chosen SPAC sponsor the Definitive SPAC Business Combination Merger Agreement by March 2024, to be followed by the official filing of its prospectus subject to the US regulatory approvals.
DoubleDragon expects Hotel101 Global to very soon become the very first Filipino company to list via SPAC in the US Nasdaq Stock Exchange, and seen to become one of the major brands, concept and business model export of the Philippines, given its Asset-Light business model could become one of the major sources of US dollar inflow to the Philippines from 2025 onwards.
Why the Ticker Symbol ‘HBNB’?
If one studies closely the novel and unique Hotel101 concept simultaneously from a deeper detailed view, its Asset-Light and highly portable business model is exportable to over 100 countries globally, of which the network effect of the brand is expected to be further elevated which should positively benefit all the stakeholders within its ecosystem.
Moreover, as far as we know, the Hotel101 unique concept has never been done in any part of the world before, moreso in multiple countries worldwide.
It’s worth noting, too, that the Hotel101 concept, while it is similar to the short-term rental platforms that its inventory is owned by third party unit owners, does not cause issues as well as reduction of existing inventory of apartments as Hotel101 being uniform typical 21-square meter units across its ecosystem are always new builds. Hotel101 is a uniform and consistent bed and breakfast (BNB), or a branded uniform bite-size hotel investment, the first and only in the world. The global patent application has been filed.
Hotel101 is also poised to be known as the most tech-advanced hotel company since its mid-end market typical rooms can optimize the use of technology since the rooms are all the same.
The Hotel101 concept and business model of having standardized 21-square meter hotel rooms with one type of room globally in multiple countries, backed with titled strata or condominium title that can be enrolled to the Hotel101 app as its core, as far as we know does not exist yet anywhere in the world.
Unbeatable efficiency comes from having around five times the usual size of other branded 3-star hotel chain, as Hotel101 on average has 500 rooms per site. The latest Hotel101 typical room now comes with prefabricated toilets, standardized flat pack furniture and a single type of bulb within the whole building. A customer literally knows what to expect wherever they may be. Hotel101 is efficient to build, maintain and operate – a formula that is expected to naturally result in room rates up to 30% cheaper versus any other hotel chain in its category in any specific country.
Almost all the industries especially those catering to the mid-end market have already been standardized to a level of at least 9/10, but if one would take a deep dive in the current millions of existing hotel inventory that the hotel industry have, no branded chain today has over 100,000 of one type of room globally. Hotel101 has literally one type of room, all the same sizes, all the same fit out, all the same bulb, door knob, the same bed size, and in an Asset-Light structure as all rooms are individually titled condominium units with fragmented ownership.
Hotel101 adopts dynamic pricing on its room rates similar to airline tickets where its room price moves up and down depending on the real time supply and demand on the chosen date of booking.
The Asset Light Hotel101 concept allows DoubleDragon to generate revenue and income twice, first from the pre-selling of the units, then second after the project is constructed it generates long term recurring revenue from hotel operations.
The Hotel101 app’s new version coming up soon will have self-check in capability, and since it has only one type of inventory in the app, it is very easy to use as there are no other types of rooms to choose from.
Meanwhile, the worldwide expansion headquarters and the global sales hub of Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd. are now operational. The headquarters is located at the fourth floor and the showroom is at the ground floor of PLUS Building, 20 Cecil Street at the heart of Raffles Place in the Singapore Central Business District.
The first three overseas Hotel101 projects will be in Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan; Madrid, Spain; and Los Angeles, California USA. These first three overseas sites will serve as bridge projects to jumpstart the transition of Hotel101 to transcend beyond these first three countries and become a global brand with a truly unique business concept that can be planted in over 100 countries. Most of the global expansion is expected to be via joint venture with developers abroad, or via licensing or franchising and each unit that is sold will bring revenues to Hotel101 once the building is completed, the enrolled units will all be generating recurring revenues to the Hotel101 Global management.
Target near-term expansion roadmap for Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd. is to be in these first 25 countries by 2026: Philippines, Japan, Spain, USA, United Kingdom, UAE, India, Thailand,
Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mexico, South
Korea, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France, and China.
The Hotel101 concept is positioned as a better alternative to people who buy titled apartment condo real estate units with the intention to lease out or enroll the asset in short-term rental app platforms for passive income with the intention to preserve the long-term asset value of the titled apartment unit that they could eventually pass on as inheritance to their children or grandchildren.
“The opportunity that we see globally in the hospitality space is that of standardization because we believe it brings unbeatable efficiency, especially for the mid-end segment. Take for example the budget airline industry – essentially all budget airlines sell one product across the whole industry and that product is the economy seat, ” said DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar Injap Sia II.
“Eventually we see Hotel101 rooms to be just like that one iconic hamburger in a global fast-food chain, it is the same no matter where you go – yes, the price changes as costs vary from country to country, but the burger doesn’t change,” added Hotel101 CEO Hannah Yulo-Luccini
Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd. is expected to derive over 95% of its revenues outside of the Philippines to be consolidated back to the ultimate parent, Philippine-listed DoubleDragon Corporation.
Hotel101 Global’s Vision is to accumulate a portfolio of one million Hotel101 Rooms in 101 countries before 2050.
The DoubleDragon team is committed to put in the necessary hard work, entrepreneurial grit and perseverance towards this vision./PN
