Bobby Horrigan grew up in a family of restaurateurs and business innovators, so when he was deciding on his career path, he had several options: run the family’s businesses or start his own venture. The first one would enable him to explore new horizons in an industry that is no stranger to him.
Horrigan’s parents—Martha and Jack—are considered pioneers in the restaurant business in the country. During the 1960s to 1980s when restaurants and food chains were not popular in the Philippines, Martha and Jack had already foreseen the big potential of these enterprises. Taking advantage of being pioneers, the couple had put up restaurant chains like Tia Maria, a Mexican restaurant; and Italian Village, which served the first tap beer.
The couple also started the first fast food chain called Mango Brutus. Jack also established a hotel in Cebu, which introduced the concept of time-sharing in the country. Martha, on the other hand, started the first pre-need company in the Philippines called the Professional Group.
“I really grew up in the [hotel and restaurant] industry and so after my graduation in Les Roche School of Hotel Management in Switzerland, my parents were so upset because I turned down an offer from Hilton Hotel,” Horrigan said.
“They didn’t know what I had in mind, I wanted to work as a corporate trainee for the first six-star hotel in the world in 1991, and it was called the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. It’s a six star because it had a limousine, a 180-foot yacht that would ferry the guests to the airport,” said the charming general manager of Acacia Hotel in Alabang.
Horrigan was only 21 when he was accepted as a corporate trainee at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, and since then, his name became synonymous to what Filipino hospitality is all about—excellence and brilliance. He stayed in Hyatt for six years, where he enjoyed extensive trainings on corporate programs, financial, food and beverages and other aspects about running a hotel.
The Acacia Hotel executive climbed the ladder of success easily at a young age. Various offers came to him but in 1997, he decided to go into a new venture that introduced a new element in the country’s hospitality industry. Just like his parents, Horrigan also introduced a number of innovations in the hospitality industry.
“I have that opportunity to start the Pan Pacific Hotel in Manila because one of my best friends is going to run the hotel and they needed a company to service all their food and beverages. So I left Hyatt and established the Asian Food Concepts to cater to the needs of Pan Pacific Hotel. If I’m not mistaken I’m the first person to do that for a five-star hotel in the Philippines and maybe even in Asia. Nobody does that because normally five-star hotels have their own F&B,” Horrigan said.
All good stories have an ending. With a heavy heart, Horrigan decided to stop his business after eight years to give way to a promising offer to run Discovery Hotels. This allowed his name to become a byword in the Philippine hospitality industry.
From being a corporate trainee to becoming vice president of Raintree, wherein he handled four luxury hotel brands, Horrigan didn’t stop innovating. Once again, he ventured into another business but this time he invited his friends who own the Enderun Colleges to start a hotel management company. Thus, Enderun Hospitality was created and the Acacia Hotel was its first client.
Being someone who’s been a part of a growing industry, achieving more and continuous growth require a lot of commitment and trust that something bigger and better will still happen, that change and innovation will continue to take place despite the many obstacles. Horrigan believes that the Philippines is on its way to become the top tourist destination in Asia.
“This industry is going to be, mark my word, the strongest industry. Tourism is going be the strongest, though it is in the infant stage right now. Fifteen years ago, tourist arrivals in the country were at 1 million, then it became 2 million, and then last year 4.3 million and it is projected to hit 10 million in 2016,” Horrigan explained.
Analyzing the current numbers of hotels in Metro Manila, Horrigan believes that as soon as the development and construction of new hotels in the country progress faster, tourists will start to flock to the Philippines.
“We have about 300 hotels in Metro Manila right now while Bangkok has 1,200 hotels that’s why they attract 25 million tourists while almost the same number of tourists visit Malaysia and Thailand. Imagine how many hotels we have to build? Jobs are going to be out there when we reach the 10-million [tourist arrival] mark,” he said.
Horrigan forecasts that in 2020, the country will attract 20 million tourists. “That is ‘20-20-20’ which stands for 20 million tourists in 2020. Imagine how many hotels that this country will need, but of course we need an airport. Still, I know this will happen.”
His optimism in the expansion of the country’s tourism industry is also based on arrival of hotels offering new concepts. “The hotel industry is going to be strong. All the people taking HRM will have jobs and guess what? Every tourist that we bring in will take out one overseas worker, so you can imagine if you go from 4.3 million to 10 million, we have 8 million overseas workers right now. If we do 20 million tourists, let’s say in two years from now, we don’t even need one overseas worker anymore, right?”
And if all these happen in 2020, Horrigan believes that the Filipinos who are part of these industries will even thrive. “The Filipino service is better than any service in the world. Filipinos are very warm people, very entertaining and very pleasant and we are known for these traits in all corners of the world.”
Meanwhile, Horrigan said he is targeting to increase Acacia Hotel’s revenues by 5 percent to 10 percent every year.
“We will try to maintain a very good revenue per available room in the Alabang area. We’re trying to maintain the image of an all-Filipino hotel—from the general manager all the way down to the staff. We don’t have any foreigners here. It’s not like we don’t want them but we just want to show that Filipinos can do it,” he said.
Recently Horrigan was bestowed the 17th Mabuhay Gold Award. The said recognition is given by the Association of Human Resources Manager of the hotel and restaurant industry to the best hotelier/restaurateur who has elevated the standards of the industry globally.
Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph
HT Editor
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