Changing the climate of hospitality

That is the same reason why I outwardly express my admiration for ventures such as AHG that find success in the balance. In all honesty, however, RCI struck me as an unexpected sustainability champion. This is, after all, a corporate philosophy that is usually more common among younger firms, and merely an extraneous activity for the country’s oldest and most venerable companies.

“I guess there is some truth to that observation,” Santi kindly concurred. “But in the case of RCI’s 106-year history, you can say that sustainability has always been a part of our saga, and deeply rooted in our DNA.”

“Before excessive importation eventually drove the Roxas Holdings’ sugar mill operations to a halt, one of the reasons it thrived for almost a century is because the company always understood the intricate relationship between the land, its bounty and the communities surrounding it – ensuring the conservation of symbiotic relationship is what sustainability is about,” Santi explained.

Sugar was, at one point in the 1960s, 20 percent of our exports, placing the Philippines among the top in our region. Data show that this declined sharply over the years, with experts attributing the reason to a combination of our country’s rapid population growth, heightened regional competition and disjointed regulatory policies.

“Even though we divested from the industry, the long decades we spent there taught us all a lesson on sustainability. While we are indebted to our history and heritage, we are also the architects of our future,” Santi pointed out.

Its stalwart commitment to sustainability, and how it manages to incorporate it into customer experience, is probably how AHG eventually made its name to be one of the country’s most-trusted hospitality management firms.

While a commitment to sustainability may add considerable challenges to structural investments, Santi views it from a more enlightened perspective. “Sustainability has to be a way of life, to become a way of business. That’s something that is ingrained in the hearts of every member of the AHG and Roxaco family. We’re not only here to build, but we are here to build things that last naturally for future generations.”