Provincial tourism execs to promote Cebu as one

Barely two months from its inception, officials of the Cebu Tourism Officers Association (CTOA), finally took their oath of office before Governor Gwen Garcia recently.

CTOA president Gregg M. Rubio, who is at the same time the tourism officer of Daanbantayan, said it is CTOA’s thrust to provide support service to their respective local government units and the provincial government’s promotion of tourism.

The group is currently composed of 33 tourism officers from the different towns and municipalities in Cebu.

Other elected officers include Nonela Villegas of Aloguinsan as vice president, Florinda Ramos from Mandaue City as secretary, Johanna Grace delos Reyes of Carcar City as treasurer, James Gallarde from Tuburan as Auditor, and Board Members Eric Ybas from Alegria, Paterno Muñez from San Remigio, Trinidad Bubuli from Toledo City and Vicente Sepulveda from Borbon.

Rubio said that the creation of the group is meant to boost the tourism promotion of the province by tackling the concerns of the respective localities in every provincial meeting so that issues concerning the tourism activities and initiatives in their area could be well evaluated.

Although he stressed that there will be no competition within them because they will function as a group in promoting Cebu as one world-class tourism destination and in raising relevant issues concerning the tourism industry in the province.

“We organized ourselves to bring our issues and concerns to the higher authorities because it has been difficult to raise our concerns individually,” added Rubio.

He said that they will also provide help to the Department of Tourism in the region in gathering sufficient information and data regarding visitor arrivals and sales generated from tourist-related activities in the province as well as in establishing linkages with resort and hotel operators and dive shop owners in their respective areas.

However, Rubio stressed the need to provide their members the necessary trainings so that they can efficiently perform their roles as tourism officers.

Hence in the first quarter of next year, CTOA will undergo a capability-building program from the Department of Tourism so that they will get to understand the scope of their duties and functions as tourism officers.

Some of the trainings they will undergo are training on the right protocol in entertaining VIPs and tourists as well skills in data gathering in their respective towns and in coordinating with tourism stakeholders in their local areas.

“There is a need for us to know the proper methods of collecting data such as tourist arrivals and how to interpret the factors behind its increase or decrease as will as in classifying the type of room accommodations provided by our resort and hotel operators,” said Rubio.

“Some of our members expected that their function is to act like tour guides but we have a separate role as tourism officers. Those who do not have background in the duties and functions of a tourism officer encountered problems. So we are currently defining the scope of our duties then we will proceed to undergoing tourism programs of the governor,” he added.— Rhia de Pablo