PhilHost 2026 is the fifth iteration of this annual symposium/platform that is dedicated to connecting global sustainability knowledge and expertise, with our local Tourism and Hospitality industry. Cyndy Tan-Jarabata, CEO of Tajara Hospitality has been the lead organizer of PhilHost, and I’m happy to be able to say I’ve attended every edition of PhilHost. She calls to invite, and I’m there; as it’s a truly wonderful, important, and necessary advocacy, and my support is ironclad.

As it’s the fifth edition, Cyndy, Gie Garcia of NEO, and I got to talking during a break from the workshops that go on throughout the day. Cyndy was asking us, as PhilHost “veterans,” if we could sense the community was growing, and that it was easier to think and explain Sustainability; and if we felt that critical thinking and discernment was improving because of activities such as PhilHost. In other words, if the community was also in possession of the perception to distinguish genuine and effective Sustainability practices, from facile, lip-service initiatives.

And those questions had us really thinking; because the easy answer would be to say ‘Of course’, and point to the increase in speakers, and in the attendees. And I did note that many younger participants could now be counted on as attendees. It was already a mix of the usual suspects from over the five years; but now supplemented by fresh faces from the hospitality industry. Similarly, the Next Gen speakers, speaking on the issue of succession, are encouraging signposts of where we are headed.

But I also made the comment that while the PhilHost is ongoing, we are effectively “preaching to the choir” – to the already converted. Both the speakers and the audience are invested in Sustainability; whether to offer best practices, or to absorb these initiatives and apply them in their respective hotels. What I wanted to learn is whether the fresh graduates and new hires at these hospitality establishments ask about Sustainability when being interviewed, and show a preference to work at establishments that champion Sustainability. For me, that would be the stronger indicator as to whether Sustainability is trickling down, and that the kids of today are conscious about it, and even see it as an essential factor of where they’ll accept employment.

My own suspicion, and as borne out by the MB Sustainability Forums we have been mounting for five years, with academic institution partners; would be that depending on the level of educational attainment, the concept of Sustainability is being taught and the young adults are aware of it. But they often see it as a textbook principle, not certain on how it can be applied to themselves on a day to day basis – and so they don’t necessarily recognize that it really has to start with them, even if only on a soft impact basis. One can’t just support Sustainability, and leave it to the big companies to take care of espousing it in practice.

Typical for a PhilHost day, even the morning sessions alone delivered on the relevance and diversity of topics being discussed. While one Workshop of From Farm to Fork was going on, the other function room had a mini-forum centered on Optimizing New Technology Solutions. Experts from the various hotel groups had gamely volunteered to discuss what their own brands were doing in the topics to be discussed, what was working, what had to be set aside and considered obsolete. So if one room had the F&B practitioners, the other one would have the logistics and Finance people.

Modular By Design, Sustainable by Choice was moderated by Arch. Cathy Saldana, and at the end of the panel discussion, she declared that she was surprised by the pointed questions being asked by the audience – indicative of how modular design could be accepted as the more efficient and sustainable mode of construction for the near future. Green Teams: Charting A Sustainable Course spoke of the social agenda side of ESG, and how creating a community was important to get everyone on the same Sustainability page.

Integrating RSG Into New Developments was concurrent with Beyond the Hype: Building Authentic Sustainability. The latter discussed how there still are many brands that merely raise the “S” flag, or are on “join the bandwagon” mode. True Sustainability should see the initiatives embedded in the DNA of the company, integrated in their operations. It’s no longer equivalent to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), or dependent on how much of profits can be devoted to these activities. That it makes financial sense, and that profitability is still part of the equation, are equally important.

Sustainability is a framework for our Future to be a brighter one for the generations to come. That this framework resonates in the Hospitality Industry, is what PhilHost wants to remind us.