CEBU, Philippines — Two of Central Visayas' leading tourism officials were recently sworn into top regional positions during a ceremony officiated by Department of Tourism Secretary Cristina Garcia-Frasco.
Judy dela Cruz Gabato was appointed Regional Director of DOT-7 while Gelena Asis-Dimpas was named Assistant Regional Director.
Gabato succeeds Shahlimar Hofer Tamano who was appointed Undersecretary for Tourism Regulation, Coordination, and Resource Coordination in 2022.
Both are Bachelor’s graduates of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R); Gabato from the Bachelor’s program in Hotel and Restaurant Management and Dimpas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism.
With 35 years of government service behind her, Gabato is advancing her career by pursuing a Master's in Public Administration.
Dimpas, on the other hand, served in the travel trade and has a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies.
Gabato has led the DOT-7 as officer-in-charge since 2022 while concurrently dispensing her functions as Chief of the Tourism Regulations Division. She spearheaded the implementation of industry-responsive accreditation protocols for various tourism trade entities, including DOT7’s Quality Management System Accreditation Control Procedure.
Gabato is an International Trained Assessor for the Hospitality Management Industry.
Dimpas has headed the DOT7’s Tourism Development Division since 2017, leading development planning and market and product development. Under her leadership, programs geared toward the enrichment of the regional tourism product portfolio were launched, among them Edux7 which promotes English as a Second Language (ESL) as a banner learning program for visiting students, FMA7 which highlights the intrinsically cultural Filipino Martial Arts Heritage Trails and Outdoors7 promoting appreciation of the region’s natural attractions.
Dimpas designed the workshop “Project Planning Essentials for DOT7 Executives” in 2017 which led to the adoption of a Regional Project Plan template.
Gabato underscored the DOT7’s productive collaboration with stakeholders in the region as the key to success in tourism promotions and regulation.
“Our programs are in alignment with the National Tourism Development Plan and our focus would be fostering more collaboration and joint partnerships with our stakeholders in the region,” Gabato said.