Moevenpick's Rising Star: Joanna Cuenco

CEBU, Philippines - As the youngest grandchild of former Senate President MJ Cuenco, 26-year-old Joanna has proven to be as much an achiever & as adventurous as her illustrious grandfather. In her own words, she is a “newborn” in her position as Moevenpick Resort & Spa Cebu’s Assistant Director of Communications, yet brimming with ideas on creating a stronger brand presence for the group, on a national and international scope. We had a chance to sit down with Joanna recently, and get to know better this up and coming admirable young woman in the hospitality scene.

During high school, she left the comforts of home as a Rotary International exchange student in Texas, USA. While she initially found the experience of interacting with people of different cultures scary, it made her realize how easily she could adapt to people. Years later, this cross-cultural experience shaped her decision to pursue her master’s degree abroad.

Meanwhile, because of her love for reading, writing, and languages as a child, Joanna majored in English with Applied Linguistics for her college degree. She considers herself a communicator than a linguist, pointing out that she uses language to suit contemporary times. Post college, she wanted to be in a line of work that had to do with languages and hospitality at the same time. She worked for Plantation Bay Resort & Spa as Public Relations Officer and Telephone Exchange Supervisor from 2007 to 2011. This career fulfilled her interest in working for a corporate setting mixed with a more relaxed ambiance of a resort.

Joanna elaborates, “I really enjoy the hotel industry, it’s not just a job for me. I believe in enjoying the finer things in life while you can, and the hospitality industry caters to that, of creating good experiences and fond memories. I also want to impart this same experience to our guests who check in, expecting a certain level of service.”

After her stint with Plantation Bay, Joanna attended the University of Sydney in New South Wales for a one-year graduate degree in Professional Communication. Since she had studied in the US, she settled on Australia this time; Sydney, in particular, as she was enticed by the vibe of the city, which is modern yet laidback, and how much the city has to offer in terms of things to do apart from academics. She also had a chance to work in Australia for two different companies, and she admires the Australian work ethic which is informal, yet things still get done efficiently. She shares that, “Both jobs expected me to know what to do on the first day, which was a nice challenge. But I received good feedback from my employers.” After finishing up at university, Joanna came back home to Cebu in January 2012.

Indeed, with her background, sparkling personality, & fresh ideas, Joanna is perfectly poised to take on her latest challenge as Assistant Director of Communications at Moevenpick.