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The Legend Palawan celebrates 2 Decades of Filipino hospitality

The Legend Palawan (TLP) celebrates today its 20^th Foundation Anniversary with the theme, “TLP@20: Two Decades of Unprecedented Filipino Hospitality.” Since 1999, this hotel has long nurtured that Filipino identity. It has been a dining destination serving only the best of local cuisine, a hearth of warmth and hospitality, home to past and current leaders, a venue for diverse groups to huddle, a pioneer in Puerto Princesa tourism, and an edifice that has witnessed Palawan through its best and worst of times.

In the span of two decades, the hotel has made significant contributions both to the hospitality and tourism industries of Palawan. TLP General Manager Eva Sembria reports that in 20 years, the hotel has served over five million guests, put in millions of investment in the city, employed more than 2,000 local talents, supported hundreds of local suppliers, and most importantly, promoted local destinations.
Wyden King, chairman and founder of Legend Hotel International Corporation (LHIC), the Christian company that operates The Legend Palawan, shares the difficulty of promoting the hotel back in the day when there was only one flight going to Puerto Princesa daily. “We needed to promote Puerto Princesa as a destination with us being the tour host. We did not sell the hotel, we sold the destination,” adds King.
Promoting Puerto Princesa as a destination was a trailblazing strategy that proved successful. Sembria shares that TLP’s innovative tour packages became popular among tourists, particularly the Palawan Vacation Royale (PVR), a three-days/two-nights package in Puerto Princesa with tours at the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River Park and Honda Bay. The PVR was later on rebranded as the Palawan Experience (PAX), an exclusive full-service tour package that included travel arrangements to and fro on top of accommodations and lodging in Palawan.

“Moving forward, we will continue to sell the destination but making sure we live by our mission of providing guests with our distinct Filipino hospitality—the ‘sulit alaga’ seamless service to the most important people, our guests,” says Sembria. To commemorate its 20^th anniversary, The Legend Palawan launched a plethora of newly enhanced tour packages dubbed Roam Puerto Princesa.
In spite of having two decades in leisure and hospitality business tucked under its belt, The Legend Palawan aims to be continuously relevant by keeping up with the ever-changing needs of travelers and standards of hotels. One such demand previously identified by the company was the clamor for a beach destination. Being a city hotel, Legend Palawan faced stiff competition from resorts on the island that were offering beach accommodations. Not to be edged out, the company acquired the rights to manage and operate Isla Pandan in Honda Bay as a countermeasure. The company is also in the thick of developing other “hot spots” in Palawan as viable tourist attractions and destinations. “My dream, moving forward, is to create an unforgettable experience in the island of Puerto Princesa where guests can enjoy the beach, the mountain, and the river—all of these things they can do in comfort,” says King.
Sembria adds that “as the steward of one of Palawan’s iconic landmarks, we strive hard to keep the balance between tradition and innovation.”

Early this year, TLP launched its newly refurbished deluxe rooms and suites, helmed by award-winning interior designer Wilfrid Magcase. Each carefully appointed room is exquisitely decorated in classic Filipiniana motif using capiz shells and fine-grade wood furniture. With a total of 91 rooms to date and more underway, TLP is definitely gearing up for the future and standing by its commitment to bringing its signature brand of hospitality to the rest of the world.
For more information about The Legend Palawan, log on to www.legendpalawan.com.ph or follow them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TheLegendPalawan)