Curriculum improvements on tourism courses mulled

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Tourism (DOT) is now closely working with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to improve the course curriculum of courses that are related to tourism, and accommodation services, like Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM).

DOT undersecretary for tourism planning and promotions Daniel G. Corpuz said that the Philippine government, through the tourism department and in collaboration with CHED, hopes to bring down the mismatch in the tourism sector between the academe and the industry players.

At present, there a total of 685 universities and colleges that are offering accommodation, tourism related courses, about only three-fourth of the annual graduates are absorbed by the industry players.

With the promising outlook of tourism in the Philippines, Corpuz said DOT is also trying to strengthen the supply of manpower in the sector, including the introduction of several programs that are geared towards developing a good “culture of tourism” in the Philippines.

Aside from improving the current curriculum of tourism related courses, Corpuz said DOT is also planning to work with CHED in terms of adding the number of hours in the on-the-job training requirement of the near-graduates.

He said from 300 hours which are now the usual requirement, based on CHED regulation, DOT wants to increase the OJT or practicum training hours to 500.

Likewise, DOT also plans to initiate tie-up with major educational institutions in introducing its program to improve the curriculum of the tourism related courses, like HRM, and others.

Requiring students to take up courses in foreign languages is also part of the plan, as multi-lingual skill is deemed very important nowadays.

The strengthening of the educational system in the tourism related courses, is only one part of the department’s broad program in establishing a strong foundation of tourism manpower and support services in the country, part of this also is the push the strong development of “culture of tourism” among residents from urban centers to the countryside areas.

Because of this, the Local Government Units (LGUs) are also asked to formulate its own local tourism plan, Corpuz added.

Corpuz said the department’s focus now is spread to different angels in the tourism sector, not only to push aggressive marketing campaign here and abroad, but also in pushing more developmental programs that will compliment the need for improvement in tourism services, culture of tourism among residents, infrastructure, quality supply of personnel, among others. — Ehda M. Dagooc

This is why, he said the DOT will need the help of other agencies in the government in pushing tourism as one of the country’s economic “bread winners”.

By 2014, about 800 hotel and resort rooms will be added in the different tourism destinations in the Philippines. These facilities will need considerable number of “quality” manpower.

Also, the issue of sanitation, safety has to be addressed seriously by the LGUs, this should be part of their local tourism plan roadmap, he said.

DOT is now working with different government agencies in order to address the concerns that largely affect tourism sector in the country, including its active partnership with the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), among others.

This development described as “Convergence System” with different government agencies will be translated into formal Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs), between the DOT, to carry over the programs set with each government agency.

Corpuz expressed confidence that the Philippines will be able to achieve the arrival targets in the next four years to hit 10 million tourist arrivals by 2016, not only because of the active participation of the private sector, but also for the new branding campaign of the Philippines, which also attracted participation from ordinary Filipino citizens, including those that are based in other countries.