RIGIL KENT ACAPULCO Group Public Relations Manager Bellevue Hotels and Resorts
“Be more passionate. Be more loving about the industry. Be more adaptable to new learnings, and be tougher because this industry may be glitzy and glamorous, but it does come with a lot of hardships.”
EVERY job would always have challenges and winning moments. The way toward it would be a learning mindset and passionate heart. Bellevue Hotels and Resorts Group Public Relations Manager Rigil Kent “RK” Acapulco showed how to do it.
From the start, Acapulco always loved building relationships and delivering value in his interactions with other people. He took up broadcasting in college, which served as his initial training in the field.
He first got into the hotel industry as an officer at the front desk of Asian Institute of Management Conference Center Manila.
Soon, he realized that hospitality was the same as the communications field. The ability to make lasting connections with other people, having communication skills, building rapport and giving the best service possible would be a powerful skill in the industry.
“People with [the same major as mine] are actually needed in the industry [then], and that’s what fascinated me toward the industry,” Acapulco said.
“I realized that selling in this industry is more than having product knowledge and the capacity to present it. It’s also integral in this industry, especially for someone in sales and marketing, if you know how to listen,” he added.
This was one of Acapulco’s strengths, as he loved communicating with people. He loved hearing what people need and providing solutions that were factored into the capacity of the hotelier and the property.
Although daunted a little, this was where he started to grow and felt truly belonged in the industry.
He then transferred to a small travel agency as a general manager. From there, Acapulco learned a lot about the ins and outs of the travel industry such as learning its software, coordinating with airlines, buying seats and initiating contracts with hotels.
This was an eye-opener for Acapulco, and it made him appreciate the efforts of travel agencies and hold them in high regard.
“Their job is difficult but they make it look easy,” he said.
Then, he moved as a sales officer to the SMX Convention Center, which he described as “a different adventure.”
At the convention center, he had to handle function rooms for trade shows, and fix contracts for big events.
Acapulco said he missed working in an actual hotel; so, he decided to work at Best Western Plus Antel Hotel as a sales manager. This gave him a hybrid life of being a meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions officer while handling room sales.
He had to learn how to maneuver through competition by learning a competitive skill set.
All of these experiences propelled him toward Bellevue Hotels and Resorts. Located at the heart of southern Metro Manila in Alabang, Bellevue is a five-star Filipino-owned property that prided itself in its facilities and in having the biggest ballroom in the south.
It has catered to a lot of high powered social events such as the Star Magic Prom and the likes. Apart from that, it has also been practicing sustainability by mitigating single-use plastics, deploying refillable bottles, building an urban farm on top of the ballroom and decreasing the use of paper. Bellevue has been helping its community through these efforts.
Similar to his first sales stint, Acapulco admitted he was scared. It was his first time handling a five-star hotel and at an unlikely location. Alabang would not be the first area businesses and clients go to. The saturation of hotels in Makati and Bonifacio Global City — and most of his clients were based here, too — would be challenging for a property in the south.
However, he reminded himself of his learnings as well as the yearning to connect with people. Packed with every experience he gained, he eventually felt that he was ready to take on the challenge.
Acapulco recalled how he was interviewed by Bellevue’s director of events. They had a small talk about a mutual client and the director challenged him with one question: “Do you think you can bring this client here?”
At the back of his mind, he was screaming because that was a big client, mostly based in Makati. Despite that, he said yes.
Acapulco narrated: “As soon as I stepped out of my interview, I contacted that client. I told her that I’m transferring to Bellevue and asked her if I can pitch the property when I get in. Her first question was ‘Do you think it can hold us?’ and I said yes. The client told me ‘Alright. Pitch it.” I felt touched when the client said that because it shows that they value my service to them.”
True to his word, he brought this event to Bellevue. Acapulco said: “[The client] successfully held their event here for three to four years. Getting the trust of that client and the support from the management, [Bellevue] became their new home for about three to four years.”
For Acapulco, to have big social events in Alabang not only helped Bellevue but also the recognition of the city. Acapulco has shown the world that even places as unconventional as southern Metro Manila could cater world-class events with both global and national reach.
To recognize his efforts, Acapulco was given a Most Outstanding Sales Associate by Virtus Awards, which was considered to be the Grammys or Oscars for the hotel and sales marketing industry.
These accomplishments were not the only reason why Acapulco stayed in Bellevue. His fear of handling a five-star property quickly vanished from his first day, saying: “I always felt that I was welcome. The stereotype and fear of five-star properties was taken away by Bellevue.”
Acapulco said Bellevue hinged on its very strong Filipino brand of service and excellence.
As a family-owned business, it also incorporated Filipino family values in its processes. Acapulco could attest that the hotel has been giving empowering support to all its employees.
Being with Bellevue allowed Acapulco to hone his skills, he said: “With Bellevue, I feel like I learned a lot of things. I had to unlearn a lot of things that I don’t need in my career, and I have to relearn a lot of good practices.”
Up to now, Acapulco remained loyal to Bellevue, inspired by its image and reputation as being the best hotel in the south. He said he has been enjoying meeting people, leading his team of young professionals, learning from them and mentoring them, brainstorming with fellow marketing professionals, and dealing with the media.
For Acapulco, marketing was definitely not a boring job, saying: “What I really love about being here in marketing is that no day is alike. Everyday is a different thing. Every project brings a different stroke of excellence to be garnered from accomplishing that project. Everyday you don’t know what to expect and it leads to different paths and results.”
However, the journey would always have its challenges. One of the biggest challenges Acapulco experienced was competition. Marketers always had to be ahead of their game that it could get frustrating sometimes.
“Even though the pandemic has long been done, the travel patterns or the requirements for hotels still [have] not gotten back to what it was,” Acapulco said.
Through the years of accumulated learning, Acapulco said unlearning was also important.
“In this industry, no matter how skilled or tenured you are, there will always be things to learn when you transfer from one property to another. There are things that you constantly learn, unlearn and relearn when you deal with a different brand,” Acapulco said.
The biggest thing he had to unlearn was the mindset of not believing in himself. The management empowered him and entrusted him with a lot of tasks. It would be important for marketing professionals to have confidence in themselves.
“Stop doubting yourself. Start believing in your own capacity and in your own skill set,” Acapulco advised.
“With Bellevue, they allowed us to fail and succeed in order for us to learn and charge everything to experience. Hence, moving forward, we would know what to do. We got trained by allowing us to fail and succeed at the same time. Failure is treated as a learning experience, and that helped a lot in believing in myself,” he added.
He also learned how to trust his teammates. In the hotel industry, closing a deal does not automatically mean a return of business. Each department needed to work together to ensure a successful delivery of services. All of this could not be accomplished without teamwork.
Acapulco said: “As a hotelier, you are not just serving the person in front of you. You are actually serving the people that they know outside: the family and friends.
Bellevue Hotels and Resorts Group Public Relations Manager Rigil Kent Acapulco shares his process of learning, relearning and unlearning as a marketing professional. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
We have to make sure that as soon as they leave, they would say: ‘I’ve enjoyed Bellevue so much,’ ‘You need a venue? I know someone from Bellevue,’ and ‘you have a corporate event? Do it at Bellevue, they have a grand ballroom there.'”
For now, Acapulco aimed to find a balance between his professional life, ambitions and personal fulfillment. He has been intending to travel more, invest in self-care and continue learning new skills.
For aspiring hotel marketers, he said the most important traits to have would be creativity, adaptability, a deep understanding of the market and customer behavior, strong communication skills and data-driven decision-making. Most especially, it would be important to have passion and to wear their hearts on their sleeves.
“Be more passionate. Be more loving about the industry. Be more adaptable to new learnings and be tougher because this industry may be glitzy and glamorous, but it does come with a lot of hardships,” Acapulco said.
QUICK QUESTIONS
What is your biggest fear?
Not living up to my potential
What makes you angry?
Dishonesty, and lack of accountability and ownership
What motivates you to work hard?
The desire to create meaningful impact and the satisfaction of seeing results; and also my mom, [who] had stage 4 cancer and passed away in 2023
What makes you hAPPY the most?
Memes, spending time with close friends and sharing funny moments
What did you want to be when you were small?
Sound engineer
What was the last book you read?
“The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Leading a larger, more diversified group while maintaining work-life balance
What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
Taking a leap of faith in a major career shift from hotel industry to travel agency
What celebrity would you like to meet for a cup of coffee?
John Lennon — I wanted to know his creative process and how he dealt with his colorful life.
If you could share a meal with any individual — living or dead — who would that person be?
My mom and dad; I wanted to know them as how [they would be if] they were not parents [as well as] their own personal realizations, learnings and experiences.
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