CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is set to equip tourism officers under the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) nationwide with sustainable development trainings from the Asian Institute of Management.
A memorandum of agreement for this purpose had been signed by Secretary Christina Frasco and ATOP president Junel Ann Divinagracia last week.
The training program is a pioneering partnership between the DOT and the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) – Dr. Andrew L. Tan Center for Tourism.
“The only way that you can really assure that sustainability principles are implemented on the ground is if you seek the experience and knowledge of the people on the ground – our tourism officers – and partner them with the (DOT) Central Office, and our academe,” said Frasco.
This is a capacity-building initiative designed for tourism officers from various local government units (LGUs), integrating sustainability principles and practices into tourism policymaking, planning, management, and product development.
“Through the signing of this memorandum of agreement, we will be able to further concretize the commitment of the Marcos administration to equalize tourism development and promotions across the country,” Frasco stated during her remarks at the MOA signing.
In line with this, Frasco stressed the need to capacitate the tourism officers.
“We cannot even begin to approach this gargantuan task without further capacitating those who see and know the actual situation on the ground – our tourism officers, who are charged with the knowledge of their specific destinations and can be potent partners in implementing, not only theoretically but practically, the principles of sustainability that govern our National Tourism Development Plan,” Frasco added.
The Sustaining Tourism Development Training (STDT) is a crucial step towards capacitating tourism destination managers to implement sustainable development plans, aligning with the vision of the NTDP 2023-2028. The STDT is designed as a two-part program.
Part 1 will be a month-long self-paced online course culminating in a two-day onsite session scheduled for April 17 to 18, 2024, at AIM. This phase targets tourism officers, DOT Regional Offices, and Central Office representatives, with the main outcome to be incorporated into the development of program, activity, and project proposals aligned with the NTDP targets.
Part 2, on the other hand, will be a four-day onsite program designed for DOT Executives and Management Committee, Regional Directors, and Central Office representatives.
This phase is expected to focus on the refinement of proposals from part 1 to ensure integration, feasibility, and alignment with sustainable development. –/FPL (FREEMAN)