DOT chief highlights Philippines’ tourism education approach at World Travel Market

MANILA, Philippines — Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco is leading the Philippine delegation at the highly regarded World Travel Market Minister’s Summit being held in London, United Kingdom.

On Monday, Frasco joined global tourism leaders and ministers and discussed the role of education in transforming the world’s tourism industry.

Frasco underscored the Philippines’ approach toward tourism education and how the department is prioritizing it in its local tourism blueprint, citing that the government wants to deliver “quality tourism education” to its asset, the Filipino people.

“Our Philippine government has applied a trifocal approach towards tourism education from basic education to technical vocational to higher education, as the Marcos administration envisions the Philippines to be the center for excellence in terms of tourism training [programs],” she said.

“We also apply a convergence approach towards tourism education, wherein we are in constant coordination with the private sector by way of our Tourism Industry Board Foundation, a composite of organizations from the entire tourism value chain that continues to collaborate with government in order to ensure that the needs of the industry are matched with the curriculum that's provided by the schools,” Frasco added.

The tourism chief cited that the DOT is working with the country’s education institutions to narrow the gap in addressing the mismatch between industry requirements for manpower, work readiness of the graduates of tourism and hospitality programs and make sure they will land employment opportunities suited for their courses.

The DOT has so far partnered with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), through membership in the CHED Technical Panel for Tourism and Hospitality Programs, to provide inputs during review and updating of the curricula on tourism and hospitality courses. The department also participate in the holding of the Tourism Human Resource Congress every two years to update the industry and the academe on new trends and industry challenges.

The agency cited that it has prepared a five-year Philippine Tourism Human Capital Development Plan (2021- 2025) “to identify challenges