The Farm at San Benito

Rahul Chaudhary

CEO

“Wellness lifestyle real estate is defined as homes that are proactively designed and built to support the holistic health of their residents. ”

What are the safety measures you have implemented to ensure a safe sanctuary in times of this pandemic? What do you envisage the upcoming trend in the hospitality and travel industry in the coming year?

The Farm maintains its status as a COVIDfree safe haven and healing environment throughout its operations since reopening in May 2020 by following a multi-modal approach against COVID-19. It has set up its onsite COVID testing center offering antigen nasal swab test administered by medical doctors and licensed health professionals. In addition, the employees are required to undergo Covid testing regularly. The Farm also offer ichroma™️ diagnostic machine which determines the level of antibodies against COVID. All facilities at The Farm are sanitized by Sanivir Smoke Disinfectant At the CG Hospitality destinations, we go beyond to curate and deliver a quintessential experiential vacation that speak of conscious lifestyles and transformative personal journeys. Aligned with the values of the newage travelers, CG Hospitality brings forth industry’s best practices to its own trendsetting vision and a strong history of investing in the hospitality sector over 19 years. Whether it is holistic health and wellness, local immersion, cultural and indigenous heritage, or marine exploration, adventure safaris and nature treks, environmentally and culturally conscious experiences with an authentic service delivery, CG Hospitality’s gamut of themed lifestyle brands ensures each moment you spend with us transforms and revitalizes you. Built to satiate ‘conscious wanderlust’, the lifestyle offerings

by CG Hospitality are executed by a range of exquisite urban properties including luxury hotels, business class hotels, safari lodges, health resorts and spas, island resorts, holiday destinations and world-class residencies. CG Hospitality, wing of CG Hospitality Global, leads the global hospitality sector and has in its portfolio some of the most iconic assets across the world with leading hospitality brand such as Taj, Taj Safari, Vivanta, Radisson, Ekho, Fairmont, and its own highly reputed brands namely The Zinc, The Fern, The Fern Residency, Summit, and The Farm at San Benito. CG Hospitality portfolio comprises over 141 hotels and resorts in 12 countries and 91 destinations with over 8264 keys. By 2025, the portfolio is expected to grow over 200 hotels and 10,000 keys.

What is the outlook for health and wellness tourism given the pandemic and the effect that it has on the physical body, mind and emotions?

The pandemic brought the biggest dip in modern history, forcing individuals to adapt to major lifestyle changes while the world shifts their focus to taking preventive health measures so that people will not get infected by COVID. People have started to look for ways to help improve their physical health and pay attention to their mental health, leading to the rise of wellness tourism and health-centered vacations. Places like The Farm at San Benito, a proud member of CG Hospitality – the hospitality arm of Nepalbased conglomerate CG Corp Global – is a perfect example of this. The pandemic has given rise to the conscious consumers and travelers who are socially responsible and prefer and are willing to pay more for more on brands that are environmentally sustainable and offer authentic, transformative experiences.

What is The Farms approach in immersive wellness?

On Wellness and Preventative Healthcare Immersion, The Farm not only facilitates deeper healing on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level but also offers education and hands-on-learning to foster sustainable healthy lifestyle habits. As part of the holistic approach to wellness, The Farm ensures nourishing superfoods which is an essential pillar of wellness. The Farm’s wellness cuisines—vegan, vegetarian, and pescetarian are essential components of the healing food concept which advocates plantbased, locally sourced, organically-grown, and farmto-table philosophy. The Farm’s selection of wellness cuisine aims to promote gut health, vital energy, and longevity of life. The Farm offers complimentary Mindful Movement and Functional Fitness activities available to all guests with the objective of empowering wellness through education and hands-on learning.

As part of the CG Hospitality, what are The Farm features that aligns to the mission/vision of the company?

A pioneer and leading medical wellness resort in the Philippines, The Farm has contributed to the country’s tourism industry in terms of medical travel and wellness tourism – bringing in new stream of travelers such as wellness enthusiasts, health seekers and conscious consumers. Aside from being an ecosustainable business and green destination,

The Farm also offers medically-supervised health promotion, disease prevention, immune support programs, and CIGNA Healthcare Insurance accredited medical services. Over the years, we have helped thousands of people from around the world succeed in their quest to live a healthier lifestyle and achieve optimal well-being through integrative medical services, preventative health strategies, and nourishing foods in its purest form. Personally, I feel incredibly proud of The Farm’s positive impact towards its contribution in Philippine tourism, local community, environmental sustainability which all reflects the ethos of CG Hospitality.

Moving forward, what are the plans for The Farm this 2022?

After spending almost 2 years on lockdown many travelers wish to take their holidays as a family including bringing their pets along. With this, The Farm will be the first to introduce the Wellness Lifestyle Real Estate concept in the country to offer a true immersive family wellness experience. As defined by the Global Wellness Institute- “Wellness lifestyle real estate is defined as homes that are proactively designed and built to support the holistic health of their residents.”

What do you think sets The Farm apart from the health retreat destinations overseas / What unique selling point do you have that might be interesting to the readers?

The Farm is a pioneer in Filipino Brand of Wellness incorporating traditional Philippine Healing Art that are carefully designed by doctors combined with the nurturing touch and healing hands of Filipino therapists using farm-to-skin concept. The Farm uses Virgin Coconut Oil and locally sourced medicinal herbs for its spa treatments Our luxury villas are accented and detailed with local handicrafts that showcases the Filipino arts and culture. We also offer a Filipino menu incorporating our wellness cuisine concept using locally sourced organic and seasonal produce. Our complimentary activities such as sound healing incorporates traditional and indigenous musical instruments. On our suites & villas we use Filipino aesthetic and themes, featuring local artisan handicrafts showcasing Filipino creativity and culture.