Filipino traits vital to tourism growth

CEBU, Philippines - Keeping the growth of the tourism industry in the country largely relies on its people’s character traits which essentially impact how tourists perceive the place in general.

Industry stakeholders have emphasized the role of every citizen in boosting further the tourism sector by maintaining the Filipino values especially of being hospitable.

Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Teresa Chan said the people are direct players in the industry because the Filipino traits being seen and experienced by travelers speak of the nation as a whole. 

“The challenge is for us to maintain the growth of the tourism industry,” Chan said during Monday’s Culture of Tourism forum in Cebu. “It is more than just inclusion of Filipino traits in tourism practices and services, it is also making each Filipino realize that they have to practice and do what is right.”

For his part, Tourism Advocate Consul Robert “Bobby” Joseph said the participation of tourism educators and movers is important in strengthening Culture of Tourism in Philippines -- Cebu in particular.

Culture of Tourism is using the values and culture of a society to promote competitiveness and create a local uniqueness of tourism.

He noted the fact that Filipinos are known as smiley people is already an advantage for the country to further position itself as a tourist haven in the Asean region.

The academe, travel operators, key industry players and the government must do their roles to make one of the fastest growing global tourism markets, the Cultural Tourism, work in Cebu.

Joseph, chairman emeritus of National Association of Independent Travel Agencies, cited the tourism students would have key roles in the development of the industry. He further emphasized that promoting tourism must come from every individual in the community.

Academe-industry link

On the other hand, Dr. Edgar Detoya, College of Commerce dean of University of San Jose-Recoletos, stressed the need to solve first the gap between industry needs and the graduates schools are producing.

“In Singapore, every time they open a course, it should be approved first by the Ministry of Employment,” he shared. “In the Philippines, it needs to be approved by CHED. So, we need to ensure that the courses in schools are still relevant to industry needs.”

He explained the academe has a crucial position to prepare the country’s future labor force for the economic integration of Asean countries next year.

Graduates have to meet the standards and requirements not only of tourism but also of other industries, he said, citing that a labor agency must be consulted before schools offer a certain degree program to know current industry demands.

Dr. Glenn Pajares, another college dean of the said university, said schools must now adopt the outcomes-based education system that engages learners in advanced thinking skills to make them competitive.

“Everything should be results oriented not input oriented. We want to see results. Results can only be achieved through partnership between the industry and academe,” Consul Joseph said of the key to maintain the growth of the tourism industry which is one of the country’s fastest growing industries.

The Culture of Tourism forum last Monday was the first of the 2014 series of talks organized by CCCI, Department of Tourism, Nitas and some universities. USJ-R was the first school to host the talk.

Contribution

According to World Travel and Tourism, a global organization tracking global tourism trends, the contribution of travel and tourism to the nation’s economy increased in 2013. The sector’s overall share to the gross domestic product hit P472.3 billion.

According to WTTC, tourism’s contribution to the GDP is expected to rise by 3.8 percent to P490 billion this year.

Edwin Vincent Ortiz of the DOT said the country needs to take advantage of the eco-tourism as it is known for beautiful natural attractions which some of them are not available in other nations.

Ortiz, Board of Directors member of the Tourism Promotions Board, said culture and environment preservation is also vital for a robust performance of tourism. He even shared the government’s tourism slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” won as the third best slogan in the world.

The DOT said the outlook for the Philippine tourism has been very positive, the fact that the industry generated in 2013 $4.3 billion in revenues and a little over 4.4 million jobs. It has also targeted 10 million tourist arrivals by 2016. (FREEMAN)