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Tourism Secretary Ace Durano sees “growing and glowing” global
prospects for the country’s tourism workforce.
He said this after the successful staging of the
third “Trabaho sa Turismo Manila 2008” which offered more than
18,000 jobs and attracted a total of 10,157 applicants from all over
Luzon.
Forty-two of them were hired on the spot during
the two-day event and 396 were in the final stages of evaluation for
possible employment. More are expected to be hired after the fair
when Trabaho Sa Turismo Manila’s 175 participating exhibitors
complete their selection process.
With many of the employers having foreign
principals or global operations adhering to high international
standards of competence, the rising number of people being hired on
the spot during the annual fair indicates the improving global
competitiveness of the country’s tourism workforce.
“This development augurs well, not only for
our expanding tourism industry, but also for the global market.
I’ve seen nurses, even engineers, being hired in the tourism
industry,” Durano said.
He also cited the ongoing efforts of the agency
to have certain skills training integrated in tourism-related
courses, to make these more relevant to the industry’s actual
needs.
“For example, skills training in different
foreign languages and aquatic sports like scuba diving can be
offered as an elective in the curriculum so that companies, local or
foreign, need not train our graduates after hiring them,” Durano
explained.
Nonetheless, Durano cited the preference of
other countries for the English-speaking Filipinos because of their
brand of hospitality.
This was confirmed by Edward Liu of the
Conference and Exhibition Management Services (CEMS) of Singapore,
whose “Career in Tourism 2009” would form part of the fourth
tourism fair next year.
CEMS’ companies worldwide include those in
Singapore and Macao where some 370,000 jobs may be opened in the
next two years.
-- Jayson Cruz Luna
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