Enderun alumnus Rey Moraga receives AFECA Young Professional Award

Enderun Colleges alumnus Rey Moraga received the Asia’s Young Professional Award of the Year during the AFECA Awards 2019 last October 11 in Manila. The AFECA Asian Awards is an annual regional event for Professional Exhbition Organizers (PEOs), Professional Conference Organizers (PCOs), meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) venue operators, Service Providers and Young Professionals in the exhibition and convention industry to celebrate and acknowledge excellence. Organized by the Asian Federation of Exhibitions and Convention Associations (AFECA), it aims to promote MICE industry best practices in Asia, maintain the high standards of exhibitions, conferences, events and related activities and services in the region, recognize members of the Association in their pursuit for excellence in the professional service and present a platform for sharing industry know-how to be competitive in the regional/global markets. Winning an AFECA Asian Award bestows benefits and privileges to the awarded participants, including receiving excellence certificates which grants them prestige and expert status.

Enderun Alumnus Rey Moraga receives Asia’s Young Professional Award of the Year during the AFECA Awards 2019

As a young and an accomplished hotelier, Rey Moraga brings with him a wealth of experience, excellence and passion in nearly a decade of career in the hospitality industry. Rey’s interest in hospitality began during his early years when he was piqued by the energy and excitement when his hometown, Davao City, hosted the 25th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in 2006. The journey took root and inspired him to study International Hospitality Management at Enderun Colleges in 2008. After four years, he graduated with distinction and was the recipient of the prestigious Enderun Leadership Award in 2012. Rey first trained and gained experience in leading restaurants in Paris, France including a stint at the Michelin-starred Le Jules Verne located at the Eiffel Tower. He formally began his hospitality career as a member of the pre-opening team of Fairmont Makati, a top MICE hotel in the Philippine capital. Throughout the years, Rey has demonstrated a solid track record involving numerous MICE activities both in the Philippines and abroad. His strong sense of nationalism to advance tourism in the Philippines made him volunteer in numerous MICE programs of the government. Now based in Cambodia, he is the Front Office Manager of the legendary Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap.

According to Enderun Colleges faculty and Philippine MICE Academy Certification Director Cynthia Bernabe, “I think Rey Moraga was chosen for his involvement in many significant MICE events for the Philippines. Some of them are Madrid Fusion in Spain (2015) and Manila (2015, 2016, 2017), Internationale Grüne Woche (Green Week) – 2014, APEC Leaders’ Meeting – 2015, Internationale Tourismus-Börse (ITB Berlin) – 2019, UNWTO Regional Conference on Sustainable Development – 2019. I believe Enderun has shaped Rey to be the professional that he is today. Majority of School’s faculty are immersed in their own respective industries so the students themselves are also exposed to these the moment they set foot in Enderun. I believe the programs of the School has helped shape students like Rey to become the professionals that are a cut above the rest.”