Welcome developments in tourism and logistics

There are positive developments in the local education front that are now in place, designed to upgrade our competitive level. About two months ago, Dec. 2 to be exact, the Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Institute (CTHI) was launched, the first international franchise for Canadian Tourism. It couldn’t have come at a more opportune time as the sorry state of manpower (or the lack of it) and the exodus of local talents cannot keep up with the hotel boom in the country in the last five years.

The Chairman Emeritus of the Philippine Franchise Association, Samie Lim, now also the head of CTHI, has been working hard to promote tourism in the Philippines, stressing the 5As: Arrive at destination, Access, Accommodation, world class Attractions, Academic and industry linkage.

There is a clear need to upgrade the skills of our manpower in the hospitality industry, and their search for expertise led them to the Canadian Tourism College. With the Philippines now as the base for CTHI in Asia, they can offer exactly the same curriculum offered in Canada, at a fraction of the cost. Filipino students need not travel all the way to Canada and incur additional costs of board and lodging to get a diploma from this prestigious institute. Additionally, other Asian students from neighboring countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and even India and China can likewise opt to study here at the CTHI at much lesser costs. Remember, our cost of living here is much less than Canada, and occasional visits to the homeland would be much cheaper.

Malaysia extensively advertises their local tourism college at the CNN. With the Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Institute now here, we can now enjoy an equal footing for our Filipino students. The Canadian Institute has been around for decades and has chalked up a sterling reputation of producing fine graduates in the hotel industry. Graduating from this prestigious school would definitely be a big plus for our local students seeking a job in the hospitality industry, both here and abroad.

Another positive development is the recent launch of the Certified Philippine Logistics Masters (CPLM) course, a joint effort by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) together with partner organizations Supply Chain Management of the Philippines, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and the Federation of Freight Forwarders.

This certified masters’ course was patterned after a similar course in Japan and since been launched in localized version in Indonesia, Thailand, and of late, Vietnam. So you see, if we don’t act now, we will see ourselves left behind by a mile again by our neighbors.

JETRO features prominently in the efforts to bring this course to the country. The CPLM course is a product of collaborative efforts of Filipino and Japanese logistics efforts, and the course is designed to provide small and medium entrepreneurs a continuing education to implement improvements in the field of logistics. Hopefully, it will give our logistics practitioners the competitive edge and provide them with cost-efficient and environment-friendly initiatives in the workplace.

PCCI VP for Transportation, ICT and Logistics Angelito Colona who took charge of the program launch said that the CPLM is a great tool and can be used to improve the country’s competitiveness ranking in terms of human resource development and productivity as well as facilitating the transfer of goods and services in the country.

With PCCI’s vast network of membership (they have a total of 139 local chambers of PCCI) and with the valuable support of Japan External Trade Organization, they hope to bring awareness to this program nationwide.

For those interested, the course entails a total of twelve modules at six hours each for a total of 72 hours, as explained by Erich Lingad, co-Chair of PCCI Logistics Committee. Because virtually all the students are professionals working during the week, the classes will be held only on Saturdays for 22-23 weeks. The cost of the entire program is P50,000 and classes will be held at the new PCCI office in Mckinley where they will have a large conference room to accommodate the class.

Erich explained that they are adapting the very same program of the Japan International Logistics Society certification program, adding that “we have to develop a curriculum that suits the needs of practitioners here that would make us at par with the required technical training and skills of advanced logistic systems in highly industrialized countries and produce the best logistics course available in the market for Filipino logistics practitioners.”

With the CPLM course, they hope to fortify the logistics network in the Philippines and strengthen the network of logistics practitioners across the various organizations and likewise across the country. They also hope to build a unified logistics network that will support logistics research and development in the Philippines.

There are currently over 700 logistics practitioners in the country. In the interest of uplifting our competitiveness, PCCI hopes to further professionalize our forwarders but doesn’t stop here. They also hope to attract customs brokers and others in allied sectors to avail themselves of the benefits that the CPLM course offers.

The Japanese representatives of JETRO were in attendance at the launch. Mr. Michiro Sakai, JETRO expert on logistics management announced that the program for Indonesia and the Philippines will start in June.

Kudos!

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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