SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the publicly-traded holding firm led by shopping-mall mogul Henry Sy, will put up a hotel chain for businessmen to bolster its position in the country’s growing tourism industry.

In an interview, senior vice president for hotel investments group Merril F. Yu said the plan is to build the hotels near the SM shopping malls to make them more enticing to clients.

“Our plan is to test the market first by starting with two hotels. Our target is to put up a total of 14, which we hope to complete in the next two years,�? he said. They will consist of 50 rooms, with an average rate of P2,000 per day. Yu said that SM Investments will likely tap an international operator to manage the hotels.

Earlier, SMIC tapped European hotel operator Accor to run its P2.8-billion hotel in Mactan, Cebu. The five-star hotel has 400 rooms and forms part of the Sofitel brand of international hotels.

It is expected to open in December 2008. Other SM hotel projects in the pipeline are two hotels in SM BayCity to include the recently announced Microtel project; a hotel in Hamilo Coast; and boutique hotels in selected sites in Luzon and the Visayas. Next year, SMIC is spending P15.6 billion to fund its property projects, including hotels.