NextGen Day

After 100 days in office, Secretary Christina Frasco of the Department of Tourism (DOT) has started taking steps to restore jobs in the industry while actively promoting the Philippines as a travel destination that is eager to welcome back visitors.

According to Frasco, these initiatives support President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s eight-point socioeconomic program to hasten the nation’s economic recovery.

In September of last year, the “Philippine Tourism Job Fair: Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso” initiative of the DOT and Department of Labor and Employment opened up around 8,305 job openings in 157 companies for newly graduated individuals and displaced tourism workers.

Between July 1 and September 28, the DOT also held 219 pieces of training for 7,603 tourism stakeholders, community-based tourist organizations, and municipal tourism officers.

According to Frasco in a government report dated October 1, “These training include the advocacy initiatives for a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive tourism industry, like the Filipino Brand of Service Excellence Program, which attempts to emphasize the good in the Filipino tourist professional.”

The DOT attempts to solve difficulties with gateway access, a lack of infrastructure, health and safety, and employment.

The agency and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) decided to create a technical working group on Aug. 8 to improve the nation’s airports and seaports.

According to Frasco, “the DOT and DOTr are working together to improve the country’s gateways, international airports, and seaports, piloting NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) Terminal 2, Davao International Airport, and Cebu Pier. This is by the President’s directive during his first SONA.

“Developments and small modifications are underway, such as the installation of signage that will have a consistent appearance in all seaports and airports, as well as the use of lighting, backdrops, and furniture that will reflect the “Filipino brand,” she continued.

In the previous three months, Frasco also convened a conference with the DOTr to discuss opening new local roads and resuming pre-pandemic routes to reduce congestion in key ports.

Enhancing the tourism experience

The DOT started ground for the prototype rest sites across the Philippines on October 7 to enhance the visitor experience, including Manolo Fortrich in Bukidnon, Samal Island in Davao del Norte, and Carmen and Medellin in Cebu.

The organization has also started to identify popular tourist hotspots that urgently require the construction of health facilities so that visitors can access essential assistance in case of accidents or other unfavorable situations while on vacation.

According to Frasco, the DOT is reviewing the nation’s health protocols “taking into consideration the current health situation and benchmarking on the best practices of ASEAN countries,” in collaboration with the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

The Philippines is also expanding its tourist industries, including those in diving and marine sports, education, health, cruise travel, food, gastronomy, culture, heritage, halal, and cinema and arts travel.

To make travel simple and available to domestic and foreign tourists, plans are currently underway to develop the “tourism life cycle” app and a tourist hotline.

“Departures prepared”

Frasco disclosed DOT’s plans to review the existing tourism campaign and create one highlighting the best aspects of the Philippines and the Filipino people as early as August 2022.

This is consistent with Marcos’ State of the Nation Address, which emphasized the need to advance the “Filipino brand” based on the nation’s rich cultural legacy.

To draw visitors and investors to the Philippines over the past three months, Frasco also traveled to several nations and joined delegations led by none other than Marcos.

The organization is attempting to codify and support the following projects with the Department of Foreign Affairs assistance:

— The Joint Working Group for the Implementation Program for Tourism Cooperation with South Korea will be held in Manila. — The Implementing Program on Tourism Cooperation with Thailand will be renewed for 2022-2028. — A new Tourism Cooperation Agreement with Malaysia will be drafted. — The Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation with Brunei will also be renewed.

Additionally, DOT communicates with Israel, Japan, and the EU to explore possible collaborations for transporting visitors from and to the Philippines.

Common initiatives on additional forward-thinking products and market advancements are also considered, according to Frasco.

Since the nation’s borders were again opened to foreigners in February 2022, an ongoing upward trend in arrivals and receipts has been seen. According to the DOT’s most recent statistics, there were 1,620,221 foreign visitors to the nation overall this year, at least 806,077 of whom were counted between July 1 and September 30.

The country continues to be a popular tourist destination. Thus, the DOT “shares a constructive stance on the potentials of recovery for the tourism industry,” Frasco said.

The DOT is solidly poised to capitalize on our current successes and work toward increasing our industry into becoming one of the primary economic drivers of this government, she continued, thanks to the leadership and dedication of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The National Ecotourism Strategic Action Plan (NESAP) the DOT is developing for 2023–2028 as part of the nation’s efforts to transition to a “green and blue economy,” and the National Tourism Development Plan for 2023–2028 will serve as the industry’s blueprint throughout the Marcos administration.

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