This study investigates the role of short-term accommodations on the place brand and real estate development of urban areas. It aims to know the perceptions of the general public, real estate developers, as well as city and barangay-level LGUs on how these lodgings affect the place brand and land value of a community. It likewise attempts to identify the personal and institutional variables having great influence on said perceptions in order to provide a better understanding of these establishments and its relevance within urban localities. In effect, this would help both public and private sectors in crafting more relevant policies on behalf of the wider community. Using certain sources, Malate, Manila was identified to be the ideal study area of the thesis. This prompted the employment of mixed methods research as the study’s fundamental data gathering and analytical tool. Here, a household (and later online) survey with 350 locals was done asking them questions that would answer the aforementioned queries. Thereafter, a Pearson Chi-square Test and MLR were utilized to determine the variables affecting their perceptions. There were also FGDs with the three (3) most populated Malate barangays as well
as KIIs with selected city officials and fifteen (15) real estate company representatives. On the whole, the goal of these activities was the same but geared towards a more institutional approach of answering the research questions.
With that, survey results showed that although a 1992 DOT Circular regards short-term accommodations as lodgings mainly for travelers, most people actually use it for their private/intimate moments. Because of this, the survey further revealed that short-term accommodations exhibit a negative place brand among the respondents though they also believe that it’s still one of society’s most important economic players. Statistics from the
Pearson Chi-square Test, on the other hand, indicate that there are fourteen (14) out of seventeen (17) variables exhibiting great influence on respondents’ perceptions. These factors are gender, age, religion, state of health, highest educational attainment, civil status, birth in Malate, socio-economic level, residential characteristic, number of household residents, number of working household residents, monthly household income, present occupation, and previous use of short-term accommodation. Whereas MLR findings show that being born in Malate and being part of a family household were the most significant regardless of socio-economic level and monthly household income. These results only mean that respondents’ views about shortterm accommodations are indeed deeply cultural, one that cuts across social boundaries, and rooted on Filipinos’ sense of family values. For the city officials, it was revealed that said lodgings are actually the second highest earners in the City’s lodging industry; hence making them one with the second highest fair market value in that sector as well. It was further stated that their zoning ordinance treats shortterm accommodations just like any other lodging enterprise. So it’s perfectly legal for these establishments to situate themselves near residential areas and/or institutional structures. It was also disclosed that short-term accommodations are not required to have Special Use Permits or Letters of No Objection as these only apply to hazardous and gambling establishments. Meanwhile, it was also said that few of these lodgings had their building and/or business permits denied, revoked, or delayed for violations of local ordinances on fire extinguishers, CCTVs, and among others. A sit down with barangays, on the other hand, merely echoed the survey findings for they recognized the economic benefits of short-term accommodations but likewise admitting
that it contributes a negative place brand to the community. One of them even said that they would oppose the construction of such lodgings in their area given the multitude of schools and churches in their jurisdiction. Lastly, real estate developers are amenable to have their projects built near short-term accommodations for they do not have any bad views against it. They explained that their projects sites have always been motivated by suitability, zonability, and marketability factors only. With the above findings, the author is inclined to accept the study's
hypotheses because the survey results and qualitative data showed that although short-term accommodations indeed trigger land value growth, it likewise weakens an urban area's overall place brand. Furthermore, research data established that a significant relationship exists between the perceptions and personal/institutional variables of the respondents. Overall, these findings merit a recalibration of the zoning ordinance and DOT Circular as well as imposition of regulations on their sexually-suggestive roadside advertisements. It is further suggested that LGUs manifest a stricter exercise of police power to ensure that shortterm accommodations can harmoniously co-exist with its surrounding communities. Then, once relevant measures are refined for proper implementation, it can also pave the way for spatial interventions (like visual buffer corridors) to better address the needs of the locals, private
groups, and government.