Paloma Urquijo Zobel de Ayala on her life and new role as Ayala Land Hospitality’s new creative director

Paloma describes ALH as “a unified brand that combines ALI’s hotel, resort, and hospitality solutions under one vision.” It owns and operates the homegrown brand Seda Hotels, which currently has a network of 12 nationwide. Its portfolio of hotels and resorts also includes the El Nido Resorts in Palawan, Raffles Makati, Fairmont Makati, Holiday Inn and Suites, and the upcoming Mandarin Oriental, which will return and open in Makati in 2026.

“Hospitality has always been at the heart of the Ayala Land brand. It’s woven into everything we do—turning our residential projects into homes, our malls into thriving hubs for entrepreneurs, and our hotels and resorts into preferred destinations for discerning travellers,” Paloma continues.

“As creative director of ALH, my primary responsibility is to ensure that every touchpoint, from design to service, contributes to a cohesive, compelling and memorable experience for our guests,” she describes her role. While the assignment is new, she is most prepared for it having led the Ayala Hotels and Resorts guest experience team two years before. 

And elaborates, “To achieve this, there is a strong collaborative process that happens between all departments and I see my role as being a guardian of sorts for each of our brands, ensuring that every decision we make whether operational or design related, are aligned with the brand identity and core values of Ayala and Ayala Land Hospitality.”

Perfect Choice

Being in charge of all these brands does seem tailor-made for the business administration graduate in strategic design and management from New York’s Parsons School of Design—The New School in 2014. In addition, Paloma holds a master’s degree in strategic marketing 2016 from London’s Imperial College Business School.

Paloma’s programme at Parsons honed her skills in business strategy and design methods. Some of her core modules from Imperial College focused on branding, consumer behaviour, relationship marketing, and strategic product management. Among the 25 skills she lists, the most valuable ones in her position as creative director are analysing trends, design thinking, social media marketing, and innovation development.

Yet, it wasn’t the end of her learning journey. 2018 she continued acquiring a hospitality management license and certificate from Cornell University.

This one-way, single-focused learning journey seems like an impassioned effort to ensure her skills will end up in this particular arm of her family’s corporate empire where they will be most appreciated and valuable. However, her creativity preceded and superseded her corporate involvement, negating the abovementioned premise.

The year 2015 was a creative year for Paloma. Returning from school and internships, mainly in New York, she created not one but two successful brands, each with a noble purpose. In May, she launched Kalye Artisano, a Palawan commercial real estate property that promotes local community engagement and interaction. Subsequently, she launched PIOPIO, a Filipino fashion and lifestyle brand that fuses traditional handwoven textiles with modern designs. PIOPIO paused operations during the pandemic and eventually returned to continue its mission of helping artisanal communities reach a broader market.

“Kalye Artisano and PIOPIO continue to thrive in their own right and create valuable synergies with the work I’m doing now,” Paloma reports, assuring that her two iconic brands will continue to get the same attention even with her expanded responsibility. “While I have an incredible team managing the day-to-day operations, building these two brands was a journey of discovering my country through its arts, talented artisans and the power of community. The relationships and insights I’ve gained have allowed me to bring this appreciation for Filipino creativity to a larger scale through our new hospitality concepts, reaching a broader audience and showcasing the depth of our culture in new and meaningful ways.”

And her schedule will indeed be complete. In the third quarter of this year, Lagen Island Resort in El Nido, Palawan will be reopened. “Fully renovated accommodations in a refined Filipino architectural design, with a state-of-the-art wellness centre, a fully equipped water sports facility, three new dining concepts and a wedding chapel, Lagen will be a premier eco-luxury destination that will redefine luxury hospitality in Southeast Asia,” she says. The Seda brand will be refreshed and rebranded while the highly anticipated Mandarin Oriental, Makati opens in the second quarter of 2026.

“And this is just the beginning,” she excitedly says. “By the year’s end, we will unveil exciting new brands that will further enrich our hospitality portfolio. With a strong, dynamic and passionate team, ALH will transform how people experience Filipino hospitality.”

See also: Why AI needs ethics now more than ever, and how this Filipino data scientist is making it happen

Authentic Leadership

A few years ago, Paloma expressed her preference for country rather than city life. “I am extremely affected by my surroundings. I like being outdoors and surrounded by nature,” she said. She adds that she is most at peace surrounded by nature on their family farm in Batangas—“a natural tranquilliser,” she calls it.

This preference is not unbeknownst to her staff, who also observe how she copes with her new corporate life, which requires her to work in a city office at least five days a week. According to them, the new boss goes to her farm home on the weekend, recharging there amid nature and her favourite pastime: riding horses…and an occasional carabao.

“Horses have been my greatest teachers lately. The pandemic allowed me to reconnect with these magnificent animals, so I rediscovered some of myself. They’ve taught me invaluable lessons—discipline, patience, confidence—and, most importantly, the art of being fully present in the moment,” Paloma says.

It also helps that she gets to visit all the resorts, hotels, and brands under ALI outside the city on ALI properties, particularly in Palawan. Designed according to her vision, these are places for rejuvenation as well.

At this stage, Paloma has discovered the core values that propel her natural creative character living in her corporate life. “I never set out with the intention of breaking new ground—I have always been passionate about what I was doing and focused on creating meaningful experiences through the arts, hospitality and community engagement,” she says. She adds that only later, did she see the impact of her work and the conversations it sparked. “I realised I was part of something bigger,” she says. “I feel grateful to be part of a shift where there has been a big resurgence of love of country and to contribute in whatever way I can.”

To her, Ayala Hospitality is “the culmination of everything I’m passionate about and believe in. We foster an inspiring workplace, building meaningful projects with incredible people. The results will speak for themselves as we introduce this new era of offerings and products to the public.”

Paloma’s transformation into a woman leader was shaped by, in her words, “moments of challenge, resilience, and growth” during the most formative years of her life.

“Being sent to boarding school at a young age taught me independence and adaptability. Starting my first business instilled in me perseverance and innovation. The loss of my dad and grandmother was a profound reminder of the impermanence of life and the importance of legacy. Getting back in the saddle was a testament to resilience, and the important lesson that it is never too late,” she shares.

But it is today, as she takes her position of leadership in the family business, that she acknowledges her greatest fulfilment so far: “Being allowed to give back to a company that has given so much to my family, has brought my journey full circle, reinforcing my belief in purpose, gratitude and the power of building something greater than oneself.”

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