The Godmother

She looks more like “The Godchild,” but believe you me, Marilen P. Sandejas-Yaptangco is officially “The Godmother” of a major event in the international travel industry.

Avalon Waterways has chosen the high-profile Philippine travel personality to launch its newest luxury ship Avalon Artistry II this month, one of two new Suite Ships to join the river cruise operator’s fleet this year.

The 64-cabin Artistry II will be christened at a canal-side ceremony in the historic Dutch town of Middelburg on April 11 and all eyes will be riveted on Marilen as she breaks a pricey bottle of champagne on its deck.

Marilen is president and chief executive officer of Manila-based Baron Travel. She is a past two-term president of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association.

Avalon Waterways managing director for Australasia Stewart Williams said the choice of Marilen as the ship’s “godmother” reflects a growing presence in Asia, both for Avalon and the wider Globus family of brands.

“Filipinos have proved to be among the most enthusiastic river cruise passengers in Asia,” Williams says.

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Marilen has become a stalwart of the travel industry by believing in her product, and by believing in herself. Though she has journeyed far and wide to bring her business to the top, her first stop was herself.

“When you do things well, you please people as a consequence and therefore you do well in your job. Because by doing what makes you happy, you can make other people happy,” Marilen, a happily married mother of two boys, says.

For Marilen, a woman is empowered “when she is doing what makes her happy. Without explanation, without excuses, without feeling guilty. That’s when she’s happy.”

And that’s how Marilen has gone places. A graduate of B.S. Management (Honors Program) of the Ateneo de Manila University, Marilen obtained her MBA from the University of California. She had planned to live abroad and work in a multinational until her father, lawyer and travel industry stalwart Art Panganiban (who would later become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) convinced her in 1986 that the new democratic government in the Philippines brought a lot of promise to young professionals like her.

Marilen returned home and joined Baron Travel as division manager. She took over her father’s post in 1994 when he joined government.

She took to the travel industry like fish to water. It didn’t hurt either that she is a woman.

“It is a female-dominated field. I asked myself why that seems to be so, and the only conclusion I get is,  number one, women are more naturally gregarious. This is needed in the international travel and tourism industry. You have to be naturally sociable. You have to look like you’re really enjoying what you’re doing, otherwise you won’t impress people. The other thing is the eye for detail, the care for detail. Even in remembering names, I think women are more suited for that,” she believes, though careful to point out that she is “generalizing.”

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Marilen could well also be the “godmother” of cruise travel in the Philippines as Baron Travel, under her, was the first agency to actively promote ocean cruising in the Philippines.

“We were the first one to bring it here in a big way. In the past, the attitude was, ‘it’s only for older people.’ For me, I just banked on the fact that it looked exciting. I read the brochure (of Royal Caribbean) in and out, we had seminars, we trained the travel agents. I went to Miami, I met with the principals and then it started on. And then all other competitive brands came in.”

Cruising (in Asia, the Mediterranean, Alaska and the Caribbean, among others) immediately made waves in the Philippines. Marilen herself enjoys taking cruises with her family.

“Because in a cruise, everything is done for you. You just pack and unpack once. If one person likes to do one thing and the other one likes another, you can do it all because you’re all going to one destination. Everything is laid out for you on a silver platter.”

Now, Baron is introducing Avalon river cruises to the Philippine market. “Ocean cruising and river cruising are different, but are both really rich in experience. A river cruise is very intimate. You have a maximum of 150 passengers. Because it’s on the river, there’s hardly any movement on the ship. But the nice thing is, because they are smaller ships, they go into little towns in Europe that bigger ocean vessels will never get into. You’re like a big family cruising together and when you get to the shore, a lot of it is a walking tour, so you’re going to little cobblestoned villages,” Marilen adds.

The Artistry II, like other Avalon ships, is an all-suite vessel. Its Panorama suites boast wall-to-wall panoramic windows and unique open-air balconies that transform from indoor to outdoor as you please. You’ll feel close enough to the riverbank vineyards, the picturesque scenery by the riverbanks.  Even the placement of the bed is innovative, so that the first thing you see when you wake up and the last thing you see before you sleep at night is the magnificent riverscape.

If she could pinpoint her greatest legacy as a travel executive at this point, Marilen says it would be making cruising popular in the Philippines.

“When I brought up the idea of ocean cruising here in 1994, there wasn’t anything. We were brave about it.”

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As president and CEO of Baron, Marilen travels 12 to 18 times a year, for a total of 120 days. She takes trips with her family twice a year, otherwise the rest of her trips are  work-related.

“It’s a lifestyle in itself,” Marilen sighs during our interview. She had just enplaned the night before from a travel fair in Moscow. “I tell my managers, if  I don’t travel, you better worry. Because if your CEO is travelling, it means, she’s busy. It’s because I sign contracts, I need to negotiate them. I need to open up new markets in Europe. If I’m not doing that, it means that the business is not dynamic.”

Asked how her family has adjusted to her schedule, Marilen says gratefully, “When I met my husband Alex, I was already into this. And my children were born into this.”

Marilen Sandejas-Yaptangco is happy with what she is doing. No excuses. No apologies. No guilt.

And that’s how she became “The Godmother.”

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)