BIZ BUZZ: Resurrecting AIT House

After more than 30 years, AIT House, the 27-room hotel of the UP Asian Institute of Tourism, may soon reopen its doors.

Among the primary forces in the group tasked to resurrect AIT House is John Patrick Gregorio, who graduated cum laude from AIT in 1988. He is one of its most distinguished alumni and was the first to be recognized in 2003 as a Ten Outstanding Young Man for tourism.

Gregorio, who also heads Landco Lifestyle Ventures, hopes to tap private firms as well as individuals to contribute to the endeavor so that AIT House can reopen by February 2026 as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of UP AIT, Southeast Asia’s first higher academic learning institution to offer a Bachelor of Science degree program in Tourism and graduate courses focused on tourism development and management.

Discussions on the rehabilitation of AIT House kicked off last week and brought together alumni and officials, including UP president Angelo Jimenez, vice president Abraham Rey Acosta, vice president Daniel Peckley Jr., UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan II and AIT Dean Giovanni Legaspi.

When the AIT House first opened, five-star hotels such as the Manila Hotel and The Peninsula Manila donated a room. Plans are thus underway to invite these same hotels and other top names in the hospitality sector such as Solaire Resort, Shangri-La Hotels and Conrad Manila to also donate a room and help restore AIT House to its former glory.

Jimenez said he was personally pushing for the full development of the AIT House as part of overall plans to position UP as a regional leader in tourism education.

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“It will also be among the central features of a “Silicon Valley” type of technology and innovation park development that we envision once the lease on the UP-Ayala Technohub is up. We want it to be a fully integrated science and technology and cultural center for Quezon City,” he added.

With such dedicated alumni and passionate UP officials rallying behind the project, chances are good that the AIT House that ceased operations in 1994 will indeed rise again.