Alejandra Clemente

A Royal Journey As a travel norm, it takes more than a one-way bus ticket to fully appreciate the grandeur of the destination. Such is the premise of Rajah Tours, named after a noble and kingly distinction, under the leadership of its Chairman Atty. Alejandra Clemente whose mission is to provide travel services befitting royalty. Alejandra finished her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Santo Tomas and practiced law for two years before working for the Board of Travel & Tourism in 1962. Her husband Jose Clemente Jr., a renowned travel industry icon, encouraged her at that time to join the business wagon. In 1972, the tandem of Jose and Alejandra broke new grounds with an inbound tourism venture that immediately found a niche in the market, just when there were no Internet bookings yet for vacations and no available travel book guides for trips around the Philippines. With only P10,000 as startup fund and only three staff members, Alejandra braved through the challenging period of our local tourism which was then experiencing a confounding slump. Not easily discouraged, Alejandra went through the arduous process of making business calls in Hongkong and other countries to win over clients. She personally oversaw operations by continuously updating their quality of service and by actively liaising with their foreign clients. Since its establishment, Rajah Tours has been getting an average of 1,000 tourists a day. To accommodate the increasing demand of tourists in the Philippines, Rajah Tours opened an office in Tokyo in 1978 and in San Francisco, California in 1983. “With such small outlay, I still dreamt big,” said Alejandra. “I knew that I had work on several strategies to reach my goal,” Alejandra said. Alejandra’s strategies eventually bred many successes. In 1986, her newly-found companies like the Rajah Travel Corporation, an outbound travel company, the Trans-Inter Corporation, her own fleet of transportation services, and the Philippine Congress Organizing Center, a professional congress and exhibit organizer, formally comprised the Rajah Group of Companies. A one-stop hub, the Rajah Group of Companies implemented precise synchronization, making them the biggest tourism-oriented organization in the country. In 1995, Rajah Travel Corporation entered into partnership with Carlson Wagonlit, a world-renowned corporate travel management company. Today, Rajah Tours remains to be the country’s premier inbound travel company that offers an array of services like value pack vacations, heritage, adventure, eco, and historical tours, sightseeing and other trips in the Philippine Islands, with over fifty employees and tour guides that showcase the country’s travel and tourism assets. With more than 30 years of service to the domestic tourism through Rajah Tours and as President of the Federation of Tourism Industries of the Philippines (FTIP), Alejandra witnessed the highs and lows of the industry. But her praises for the country’s natural beauty that captivated millions of foreign visitors every year remain solid. “My pride for our country is best reflected with what I do,” Alejandra said. “I want to let the people from all over the world realize that there’s so much beauty in the Philippines meant to be explored. And we will always find a way for them to do that.” For propelling the country’s continuous tourism success and for uplifting Manila’s entrepreneurial spirit, Alejandra Clemente will be hailed as one of Manila’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs, to be given by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) at the Go Negosyo sa Manila last Sept. 7, 2007 at the Philam Center for the Arts, UN Avenue, Manila. The Go Negosyo sa Manila is part of the ongoing Go Negosyo Caravan spearheaded by Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III. Go Negosyo sa Manila is presented by Globe, PAGCOR, Hyundai, PLDT, Smart, Chinese Filipino Business Club, Philamlife and RFM Corporation. Other partners of the event include The Philippine Star, GMA Network Inc., RPN9, NBN4, Aspac-Law, Creativoices Production, Ideal Minds Corporation, and Full Circle Communications.