Pinoy firm to open 100 tourism training centers

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines will take the lead in providing skills capability training for the tourism sector, as a Filipino-owned company will open up 100 tourism and hospitality training centers in the ASEAN region in the next 10 years.

The Canadian Tourism & Hospitality Institute, got a master-franchisee deal from the Canadian Tourism College (Vancouver) to operate in the ASEAN region starting with the Philippines.

CTHI president Samie Lim announced in a press conference over the weekend, that Cebu is one of the priority targets of the institution's expansion move, while the province's tourism advantage is slowly gaining the interest from the world market.

Lim, a renowned business leader and prime mover, believes that the country's strength in tourism shouldn't be taken lightly and that all aspects in the industry should be taken cared of.

In Cebu for instance, despite the presence of world-class accommodation facilities, attractive beaches, service on the other hand is still far from the world-class level.

It is for this reason that CTHI would like to start its ASEAN-wide expansion making Cebu as its take-off point.

Although the school has been operating in Manila for two years, Lim said expanding the facility in the tourism destinations in the Philippines is vital not just to help raise the bar of service efficiency in the country's tourism industry but also to make the Philippines as a model in tourism-service skill proficiency at least in the ASEAN bloc.

Filipinos may have the "pleasing" attitude and happy disposition, a tourism flavor that stands out, "but sad to say, we don’t have world-class skills."

After Cebu, wherein CTHI will work with a franchisee, preferably a hotel operator, the company will also expand in other tourism hot-spots like Boracay, Palawan, Bohol, as well as in southern and northern Luzon.

The franchise offering of CTHI would range from P5 million to P6 million for a franchisee that already has a hotel. However, if a school will be built from ground-up, Lim calculated an investment of about P12 million.

Providing this capability will not only improve the ranking of the Philippines as destination of choice by the International travelers, but it will also provide wider opportunities for more Filipinos to get high paying hospitality and related services jobs abroad, he said.

In a separate interview earlier, Network of Independent Travel Agencies president Robert Lim Joseph said the Philippines should improve its capacity to produce tourism professionals to stress its leadership in tourism initially in the ASEAN region.

Joseph said despite the availability of over 1000 schools and universities offering HRM (Hotel, Restaurant Management) and other hospitality and tourism related courses, the country is still producing mostly waiters, housekeepers, bartenders, kitchen helpers, among others.

Joseph suggested that CHED should come up with standard curriculum for all tourism related courses like the Hotel, Restaurant Management, B.S. Tourism, among others to involve the private stakeholders.

In the CTHI, Lim said that hands-on training with experienced industry experts as mentors are strictly followed.

"Most teachers in tourism and hospitality courses have not been employed by tourism entities. They're living in the world of theories," said Joseph.

If the Philippines were to lead in the tourism sector in the region, he said there is an urgent need to improve its educational support system. "There is truly a big mismatch here."

CTHI offers different internationally-recognized Canadian diploma courses such as hospitality and resort management, travel and tourism, hospitality and tourism management. Certificate (3-4 weeks) courses also include; hotel and sales marketing, front office operations, F&B services, professional housekeeping, and other related skills.

CTHI is the first international franchise of the Vancouver-based Canadian Tourism College. With its 30 years of providing real-world quality tourism education, CTC is now a multi-awarded and globally recognized leader in its field. (FREEMAN)