Tourism Summit to kick off in May

CEBU, Philippines —  It is a go for the first-ever Tourism Summit in the country, an event organized by Go Negosyo, the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Cebu City Government, on May 6 at the SM Seaside Cebu.

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco and ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines Chair Joey Concepcion, also the founder of the non-profit organization Go Negosyo which advocates for Philippine entrepreneurship, met to discuss this event last January.

The DOT disclosed that Frasco identified the capability to market tourist offerings as one of the most important training sessions needed in the tourism industry, and that the DOT is open to the expertise of the mentors of the entrepreneurship advocacy group.

Both leaders also discussed their collaborative ventures on how the tourism industry will recover from the setbacks of the pandemic in terms of strengthening tourism-related activities for the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Cebu Island, being the pioneering location for the event, aims to provide networking opportunities for the tourism industry stakeholders, as well as mentoring discussions and other exciting activities.

“We recognize that while we have an array of tourism products and services, our people remain our best asset. Training and development programs provide a host of benefits and this collaboration between the DOT and Go Negosyo is a testament to the commitment of the department to provide more learning opportunities and later generate jobs for our tourism stakeholders.  MSMEs make up a large component in the tourism value chain and capacitating them is a priority of the department,” Frasco said earlier.

Since 2016, Go Negosyo has mentored 12,100 entrepreneurs, which Frasco commended the idea of training tourism stakeholders through the 3M (money, market, and mentorship) on wheels and its mall-based mentoring program.

On the DOT’s side, the tourism chief said the department has set an ambitious goal this year by training 100,000 tourism workforce across all 16 regions in the country.

Go Negosyo continues to invite interested individuals to take part in the summit.

For those who have not yet registered yet, one can sign up for free admission via https://bit.ly/TOURISM SUMMIT2023.

“We promise it’ll be a fun day you won’t forget.  After all, it’s summer, let’s make everything hotter!“ Go Negosyo’s post reads.

Along with this, Go Negosyo is also calling on volunteers for the one-day summit.

They are particularly looking for student volunteers who are preferably in the hospitality and/or tourism-related courses based here in Cebu.

Strong leadership skills and team players, with strong communication skills (can speak in English and Filipino) and can work with little to no supervision are a must for those interested to be part of the organizing team.

For those interested, they can sign up thru   bit.ly/TOURISMSUMMIT VOLUNTEERS2023.

For inquiries, one may contact Carmela Barbacen at [email protected]. — GAN (FREEMAN)