DOT taps universities for apprentice training

CEBU, Philippines – As tourism becomes one of the country’s main economic drivers, the Department of Tourism (DOT) sets aside P22 million for an apprenticeship program aimed at preparing the next generation of manpower pool to appreciate the beauty of Philippine tourism.

Tourism undersecretary Eduardo Jarque announced that DOT will initially tap 22 universities in Metro Manila to expose their students to the major tourism hotspots around the country such as Cebu, Palawan, Bohol, and Davao.

"The students will stay in top hotels and visit the attractions of the places. They will be treated like tourists because we want them to feel how tourists should feel," Jarque said.

These HRM (hotel and restaurant management) students will be toured to the best destinations in the country, "to let them feel how to be a 'real' tourist. They have to know what tourists should feel. People do come [back] if they have good experience," he said.

"We want to emphasize that when tourists come here they want to have a good time," he emphasized.

After the students from the 22 universities in Metro Manila complete their tourism immersion tour, universities in Cebu and Davao offering HRM courses will be likewise tapped to participate in the same program, Jarque said.

For this year, DOT planned to partner with a total of 40 schools nationwide. This program will also put HRM students into full appreciation in working in the tourism related businesses.

Jarque said the tourism industry wants to employ serious people and get rid of the 'mediocre ones.' Thus, the apprenticeship program is launched to provide quality manpower pool to the growing tourism-related businesses across the country.

"The students will be at the front of the house and they will also see the operations at the back of the house," Jarque said. The students will be selected by a special selection board before they can be included in the program.

Already, tourism stakeholders especially in Cebu have admitted that the industry can not do something about the "brain-drain" problem, and Philippines will just have to re-train and re-train people to sustain the dynamic tourism industry.

Stakeholders are convinced that "constant training" is the name of the game for the industry right now, in fighting brain-drain phenomenon. It does not matter anymore if local hotels, resorts, are now being used as "schools" or stepping stones to get employment abroad.

Big players in the tourism sector, such as five-star resort Plantation Bay reported that it is investing hugely in the recruitment and training, as the speed of manpower turnover is at all time high.

"Regrettably, we only wish them well. What we do is to continuously spend on, hiring and training new people," said Plantation Bay president Manuel Gonzalez.

Plantation Bay which maintains a total of 450 people has to strengthen human resource management team, to sustain the availability of world-class accommodation skills, serving the sophisticated tourists from all over the world.