Boots Alcantara thinks someday that he would become his own boss even when he was still an employee. He would buy lanzones in San Pablo City and sell them to high-way fruit stands on his way to Manila. He also sometime sold family computers while working as an assistant brand manager for a food manufacturing company.
Alcantara found a major opportunities to become one in the family’s seven-hectare ancestral compound in San Pablo, which for years had served as private rest grounds for the family and their relatives. He saw that its lush scenery and rustic trappings had the potential of becoming a tourist destination. He then immediately worked to realize this vision by putting up of a bed-and-breakfast inn at the place, formally opening it as Casa San Pablo in 1996.
Casa San Pablo’s charm and success-lies in its versatility as well as in its personal services. Whether the guests are there for a corporate function or for a vacation, he makes sure he is present to personally entertain them. He is also a member of Viaje del Sol, a strategic alliance of the various arts and tourism destinations stretching from Laguna to Quezon. He advises people who want to become tourism entrepreneurs to love the town or province they are in and truly immerse themselves in its culture.