Mapúa eyes more tourism and hospitality students

The Mapúa University School of Tourism and Hospitality Management aims to boost its enrollees for the following academic year through its partnership with Ayala Land Hospitality (ALH).

“We are gearing up for a better (enrollment turnout) for 2026-2027. In fact, for the next term, we are hoping that we get even more,” Mapúa School of Tourism and Hospitality Management Dean Lora Lee F. Reboton told BusinessWorld in an interview on Wednesday.

Since opening its doors to students for the 2025-2026 academic year, the school currently has 20 students, divided equally between its two programs: Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management and Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management.

Ms. Reboton noted that the low enrollment rates this year were due to a lack of time to promote the programs.

“When we started marketing the programs, that was in April or May, so it was too close to the opening of the school, which was in August,” she said. “We didn’t have the luxury of time, but we were blessed to have that much.”

To boost the number of students, the school will focus on transferees and late enrollees for this year’s second term.

“We will be able to accommodate more students who will be transferring or late enrollees who chose to rest during the first term. We are hoping that we will get even more enrollees,” Ms. Reboton said.

The school also aims to highlight its partnership with ALH, more specifically with one of its brands, Seda Hotels, to encourage more students to join the program.

Located beside Seda Manila Bay, Ms. Reboton said students will have a “living and breathing laboratory” that they can use whenever needed, which makes learning more experiential.

“Our school is a partnership with the Ayala Land Hospitality, so you can expect that instructions here will be made by professionals from Seda Hotel mostly,” she added.

Aligned with the industry standards and practices of Seda Hotels, graduates from the new Mapúa school will also be ‘prioritized’ upon employment application in the 12 properties of the hotel brand.

“Because we are partnered with them, we have the edge already,” Ms. Reboton said. “So when you say you came from Mapúa University School of Tourism and Hospitality, you’re prioritized, but it’s still subject to their selection process.”

The 100-year-old Mapúa University was founded by the first registered architect in the country, Don Tomas Mapúa, in 1925. The university was placed under the top 1501+ institutions globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, alongside four other Philippine universities. — Almira Louise S. Martinez