Brain drain in hotel industry not a problem

Despite the exodus of Filipino hotel workers to earn dollars abroad after gaining ample training in hotel works in the Philippines, it has not created a ruckus among hotel and resort operators here.

"Philippines is a gold mine of good accommodation or hotel workers in the world. People are easy to train, they learn fast," said Plantation Bay Food and Beverage director Enzo Ciliani.

Ciliani, who returned to the Philippines after taking similar jobs in different hotels in the world, said Filipino hotel staff are the best in the world.

"I lose one, it doesn't matter and it doesn't give me a problem, Filipinos are resilient, it doesn't take long to train them," the Italian hotelier said.

Ciliani worked for Plantation Bay for seven years when it started its operations over a decade ago, but he went abroad, and last worked in a hotel in Egypt.

He said brain drain in the hotel industry here, is not likely to be a problem by the hotel operators.

He admitted that a few of his food and beverage staff have gone to other countries like Dubai, but he said he can immediately find somebody to fill the vacancies.

He added that unlike other nationalities, Filipinos are more kind, approachable, and most of all fluent in English. "This is not the case in other countries," he added.

With Ciliani's come back in Plantation Bay, he said he is trying to highlight Filipino Fiesta culture in food serving, although the five-star resort has several theme restaurants.

Every Monday, he said Plantation Bay will be showcasing a Filipino Fiesta ambiance for the guests' dinner, to go with ballroom dancing to complete display the Filipino way of celebration.

After his seven-year service in Plantation Bay, Ciliani was able to work with other International hotel chain abroad, like InterContinental, Peninsula, and even Shangri-La hotel properties, but now he is back to the Cebuano-owned resort Plantation Bay.

He said Cebu has a great potential to attract more foreign tourists, aside from the Japanese, Koreans, and the Chinese. He said if it has to promote well in European market, and accessibility will be put in place, Cebu could become a vacation haven for the Europeans.

For him, he said Cebu is not an expensive destination, other destinations in world like Turkey is more expensive than Cebu.

Although, he said that Thailand is the popular destination for the wealthy Europeans because of its accessibility.