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By Feliciano Rodriguez III
Every day, we hear crisis after crisis on the news, both here and abroad. With the pandemic lockdowns easing up, businesses are getting their chance to recover, and a semblance of normalcy is finally within reach for us.
In the world of business, property management and hospitality solutions provider, the Anya Hospitality Group, stands out as one of the few companies that weathered the storms these past few years.
Starting from the Taal Volcano eruption of January 2020, and then the global pandemic lockdown of March 2020, AHG’s businesses and properties—particularly their newly opened Anya Resorts Tagaytay—felt the brunt of these twin crises.
But now that the dust has settled, we are seeing how the expertise and local know-how of the AHG helped it survive, and now, even flourish, in this new normal in the Philippines.
We recently had a tête-à-tête with the two top guns of the company, AHG and Roxaco Land president and CEO Santi Elizalde and AHG managing director Juan Roca. We discussed the origins of the company, and how they survived and proved their mettle in these challenging times.
Juan Roca, describes the company as “a boutique management company—a company that aims to elevate the Filipino hospitality industry, and to provide bespoke quality services for its clients.”
According to Roca, their company’s deep knowledge of the Filipino market and its more than 20 years of track record in the industry, are the main reasons for AHG’s resilience and adaptability during these trying times. “Knowing what the market wants, and what our client wants from us is essential for our success,” he explains.
Origins
“You know, this all started about 20 years ago, after the development of Punta Fuego. At that time, it was a partnership of Landco and Roxaco. I hate to say it, but we go back that far, we’re old!” Elizalde jests, discussing the origins of AHG.
He then went on with how Punta Fuego was looking for an operator for its club. Serendipitously, a big Spanish hotel chain, the Barceló Hotel Group, was looking into entering the Philippine market that time. “So aside from us hiring them, we partnered with them as well because they were looking for investors,” adds Elizalde.
Elizalde and his group, together with the Spanish hotel chain, then created a management company called Fuego Hotels and Properties Management Corporation. This was the start of the corporate journey of Elizalde and his group, which would eventually evolve into its current form—AHG.
“What happened was, Landco, being the developer was the majority,” Elizalde continues. “And as far as the management company is concerned, Roxaco ended up buying Landco out.”
Roxaco goes back many years, for our uninitiated readers. It is the property development arm of Roxas and Company. Indeed, the Roxaco group celebrated its 100th year in existence in 2021.
“So we’re part of that history and track record,” continues Elizalde. Roxas and Company is best known for their sugar business, and even eventually bought the La Carlota Sugar Central business from the Elizaldes.
“So I went from the Elizaldes to the Roxases,” jokes Santi. “We also went into the ethanol business, and so on and so forth. For many years, that was our focus. And, obviously, agriculture and land is involved in our business.”
With the fluxing prices of sugar in recent years, Roxaco’s vast portfolio of agricultural land became prime targets for development. Instead of planting cane, it would be more profitable to develop the property for commercial and residential use. A prime example of this was the Punta Fuego development.
Roxaco was the landowner and Landco was the development partner. And the rest is AHG history. When Fuego Hotels and Properties Management Corporation was bought out by Roxaco, AHG was eventually launched. Its first project was the Anya Residences as phase one, and then the Anya Resort as phase Two. Its third phase is now currently in development.
“Anya Resort is actually celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. We wanted to sort of ride on to the Anya brand name. So, Anya Hospitality was the name we came up with,” Elizalde explains. ”And, for a while, we were actually using that as our brand. But then we sort of took a step back, we reevaluated and we said, ‘Okay, why don’t we just make it Anya Hospitality Group, AHG, use that as our as our brand.”
Today, AHG manages properties and developments owned by different entities here in the country. There’s the Amara Condominiums and, of course, the Anya Resorts. Together with a Singapore fund, AHG also now operates four franchises of the Go Hotel brand.
Keeping the boat afloat
Asked how they have managed to stay afloat these past years, especially with the lockdowns, Juan Roca says it was all about availability. “Mainly, to be flexible with our partners and clients, giving them the full support especially during difficulties and/or challenge moments. To provide impeccable service and, also, innovation to keep up with the trends of the industry,” he explains.
“We’ve been here for more than 20 years. Over time, we’ve developed a very good understanding of the local hospitality market. And that’s our edge. We are flexible, and agile, in doing our business,” adds Elizalde. “As a matter of fact, when SM first purchased Taal Vista in Tagaytay, we were the property managers there. We also oversaw the expansion of that property, especially the new wing that they added there.”
“We oversaw the planning, the construction of the new wing, we managed the property, until SM said, ‘okay, thank you, guys, we think we can do it ourselves now. Thank you and goodbye,’” Elizalde continues, jokingly. “We were managing the existing phase and we were doing consultancy for the expansion. That’s what we do essentially, in our capacity as a consultant. We tailor fit our services to our clients, according to their needs. And we bring in our vast knowledge of the properties industry.”
When asked about the one important thing to remember in their industry, when doing business in the Philippine setting, Elizalde says, “it’s important to accept the fact that the attachment between a Filipino family and their business is very, very strong. Also, you have to understand what they want to get out of their hotel or resort business.”
In other countries, it is a straight forward affair in the industry, Elizalde adds. They would would explain what their brand is, what are the standards they expect you to live up to, and then they will charge you 20 percent—take it or leave it. “That does not fly here in the Philippines,” he says. Here, you have to be more subtle, a little more patient, and a lot more imaginative.
“The key in being successful with the local hospitality market is you have to be flexible, you have to develop a relationship, and you need to understand what the objectives of the owners are,” explains Elizalde.
“It’s the understanding of what the partnership will be that is important,” he continues. “Obviously, the responsibilities have to be clearly identified—I mean, you’re dealing with people. And that contract is only as good as the relationship you have with your partner.”
Forward to the future
As for the future endeavors of AHG, Roca shares, “As we all know, the tourism industry is one of the major sectors in the country, contributing a big percent of the GDP. This will keep on increasing. With this trend, we believe that the company will keep growing in the near future. Right now, we are evaluating to go into other businesses, particularly with foodservice.”
Accodring to Roca, moving forward, AHG endeavors to further increase its property portfolio around the country, and develop new concepts and brands, as well.
“Look at the market for highend properties, whether it’s a hotel or a resort. Do you know the current potential? Do you know how many inbound tourists come?” Elizalde concurs. “Every year before the pandemic, we started off with seven, eight, nine million inbound tourists. Now, it’s up to 10 million. You know how many local travelers there are in this country? 60 million. 60 million, imagine! So that’s where the focus should be.”