It started with a brawl.
In the beginning there was war, and not just a war, it is World War II - the battle of the Pacific that left Manila in smoking ruins - but that was merely the opening act - a condition which set the stage for the origin of the HRAP more than 60 years ago, according to Jose Cobarrubias, one of the founders of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines.
Executives from 10 of the leading hotels and restaurants in Manila and nearby areas instituted the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines on September 12, 1951.
Its main goal was to upgrade the caliber of the local hospitality industry by improving management skills, personnel services, and overall standards while keeping abreast of trends and developments abroad. While it has achieved some of its goals, it is still working to uplift standards and identify new horizons for the hotel and restaurant industry in the 21st century.
Early HRAP Convention held at the Philippine International Convention Center
It begun only with a handful of hotels and restaurants as its founding members since the hospitality industry during the post-war was not as dynamic as we know today. Fine dining restaurants exist only in a few establishments and there were no casual dining restaurants in the country except for family-run eateries.
The post-war hospitality industry was not as dynamic as we know today. In an interview in 2002, Cobarrubias only counts four “respectable” hotels in manila; the Manila Hotel, Swiss Inn, Waldorf-Astoria, and Bayview. Fine dining restaurants existed only at these few establishments. There were no casual dining restaurants in the country, only family-run eateries, of which two are still around, namely, Max’s Restaurant and the Aristocrat.
Tourism was trifling other than foreign journalists engrossed in detailing Manila’s wreckage and these few tourist still fall into prey of peddlers who would steal guests from competing hotels.
In order to unravel the existing setbacks, HRAP instituted the “Meet-and-Assist” service in all main ports of Manila – a service in which until these day exist in hotels in .our country. It also standardized the provision of service charges in hotels and restaurants to handle incidentals.
Marked with vision and wisdom, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines founding members are:
Jose Cobarrubias of Bayview Hotel
Charles Hollman of Manila Hotel
Leo Prieto Sr. of Keg Room
Ricardo Acuña of Waldorf-Astoria
Eulalio Arce of Selecta Restaurant
F. Ma. Bayot of Jai Alai Sky Room
William Burr of Metro Garden Grill
Modesto Enriquez of D&E Restaurant
Roberto Chuidian of Avenue Hotel
Maximo Gimenez of Max’s Restaurant
Emil Landert of Swiss Inn, and
Jose Reyes of Aristorcrat
In the 60’s, tourism was not an immediate national concern. With no real tourism infrastructure in the country - the industry undeniably suffered. Regardless of its impediment, local restaurant industry was growing intensely with the full service concept diners like, Nora Daza’s Au Bon Vivant, Eulalio Arce’s Selecta Restaurant, Indonesia Café, and Modesto and Trinidad Enriquez’s D&E Restaurant; and for convention and banquet locale, Jose Reyes’ The Plaza.
It was during Jose Reyes’ leadership as President of HRAP that the association embarked a series of seminars and training to its members. With the help of Annabelle and Tom Wisniewski, both graduates of Cornell University Hotel School, D&E’s Trinidad Enriquez organized a summit focused on topics relevant to hotel and restaurant management.
Secretary of Tourism Jose Aspiras during HRAP Convention in the ‘80s.
The declaration of Martial Law in 1972 bode well for the local hotel and restaurant business with the creation of the Ministry of Tourism. Hoteliers and restauranteurs found an ally in their yearning to make the Philippines as one of the tourism destination in Asia.
The programs such as the Open Skies Policy, the Balibayan and Reunions for Peace programs drew-in tourists in to the country. The completion of the Philippine International Convention Center in 1976 signaled the country’s arrival on the global map. It was in this era that the Philippines has seen the rising of tourism industry through the construction of different hotels in Manila. International hotel chains started opening in the country, such as the Manila Peninsula, The Westin Holiday Inn, Manila Midtown Ramada and Century Park Sheraton. Opportunities and employment in the hotel and restaurant sector started rising as the tourism industry booms.
It was on this time when HRAP did the groundwork and put the organization in a better position. HRAP sponsored scholars at the UP School of Economics which helped established the Asia Institute of Tourism. With the initiative of the Tourism Ministry, the first Hospitality and Travel Directory came out, producing a number of regulations that contributed to the professionalism in the tourism industry.
The early 1980 proved the vexing times for HRAP. The country’s political stir alarmed the tourism industry. Not until in the late 1980 that government’s funding bolstered the industry. Famous international fast-food chains, like McDonald’s and Shakey’s, begun arriving in our shores rousing Filipinos’ food preference.
While tourism is striving in Manila, Cebu City, on the other hand, was flourishing unexpectedly
** Source: The Life and Times of a Pioneer Organization, HRAP COP Coffee Table Book [2011]
** Banner Photo from Manila Nostalgia by logopal.com [The new Manila Hotel, c.1915]