He is a man of few words, so he said. But the sad story of how Cris Aquino started as a travel agent went beyond the usual 300 pages of a paperback.
A working student from the time he started his Visual Communications degree at UP Diliman, Aquino used to work as a messenger for a travel agency based in Manila.
“The grueling hours of shuttling back and forth took most of my time. It’s either work or school,” he said, recalling how difficult it was to trade his academic ambition for a lifelong career as a travel agent.
Rather than destiny finding him, Aquino sought his own. He made a career from learning the tricks of the trade. He armed himself with short courses on travel agency management, computerized ticketing and reservation, an IATA (International Airlines Travel Agency) course and ended up with seminars along the way.
Learning the trade pushed him to be a sub-agent until his big break came when he saved enough to open his own travel agency. Starting small, Travel Proponents Inc. had a chance to open its first full branch at the SM Megamall, the biggest and most posh mall at the time.
The idea was broached by his lifelong partner, Ricky Reyes, or Mother Ricky as he is known by family, friends and even the public.
Travelpros earned the distinction of being the first in-mall travel agency, setting a trend for many travel agencies to follow.
Burdened by how his business would survive as he had yet to get his IATA accreditation, his good friend Bert Nievera bridged him over to a friend who was taking the Michael Jackson concert to Asia.
Singaporean billionaire Ong Beng Seng allowed him to package the concert for the Philippine market. His foray proved successful as he was able to book 120 tickets in 1993.
A string of more successful shows, concerts and ventures that require traveling defined his 31-year career as a certified travel agent.
Following the success of the MJ concert in Singapore, Aquino was bold enough to seek the audience of Lloyd Webber and bring Broadway musical for the Filipino audience. Phantom at the Opera was next big thing after the King of Pop concert in Hong Kong.
“I was snubbed at first by his manager Julie Brooks. But when I got to Webber, I told him I was willing to pre-take the tickets for $5,000 bond. That sealed the deal,” he said.
One broadway after another and many concerts followed, but the highlight of his entertainment brokering career was when he brought Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti to the Philippines.
It started the trend of the uppity crowd converging for an expensive foreign act. The concert gathered the country’s elite and culturati in one venue with ticket prices selling at P25,000 per seat.
Aquino recalled how the media bashed the production for bringing in such an elite performance but times were evolving during those years and Filipinos were hungry for exposure to diverse culture.
He also brought to the Philippines the famous Cirque du Soleil, which also had the sponsorships from the most prominent companies in the Philippines.
While package entertainment adds value to his company, Aquino said his bread and butter remains travel management, ticketing and booking package tours for his clients.
His business took him to places beyond his imagination from the fun and sunny beaches in Copacabana and Ipanema in Brazil to the somber museum walls in Europe. The most exhilarating for him is sitting and sipping coffee at the Champs-Élysées in Paris, immersed in thoughts, while watching people pass by.
How life panned out for him was something he was really grateful of. His roller-coaster ride from where he once stood at to where he is now is matter of inspiration for his family and his children.
He still remembers how broke he was after a six-month contract as a dancer in Japan working for the Aldeguer Dance Company.
“From Japan I became jobless, penniless but not spiritless. Moving forward as I grew the business, I also tried writing for the Manila Bulletin as a columnist on its travel page. The column was called ‘Detours’. I shared glimpses of my how I view the industry as a travel expert,” he said.
Now that his adopted children have their own lives—one lives overseas while his two daughters Stephanie and Jamie are working their way up the corporate and entertainment ladder—his time for himself, his partner and business make him more appreciative of his blessings in life.
