'Trabaho sa Tourism' Fair opens in Cebu today

CEBU CITY , Philippines  – The fourth annual Trabaho sa Turismo (TST) Fair opens here at the SM City Cebu today, with Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano leading the top executives of tourism-related companies in welcoming the thousands of jobseekers from this city and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Choral group Voice of Cebu will liven up the TST opening rites where a symbolic pillar of the Department of Tourism will be lit up by Durano to signify the hope and optimism that the Filipinos pin on the tourism industry.

He will be joined by the applicants hired in last year’s TST. He will also meet with the media and later make a tour of the employers’ booths, where jobseekers are to be interviewed.

Most of the jobseekers have pre-registered online at www.jobsdb.com.ph where employers can access their resumés, which applicants can also update anytime.

They can also apply onsite during the fair, where 60 of the computer units available are provided by Ng Khai Corp., a sponsor of this year’s event.

The annual event is the country’s only tourism-focused jobs fair involving DOT-accredited local and foreign-based employers such as airlines, shipping/cruise companies, hotels, resorts, restaurants, travel agencies, tour operators, convention and exhibition centers, spa and wellness establishments, recruitment firms, golf clubs, malls and department stores, call centers and business process outsourcing companies, banks, schools, government agencies, and entertainment outfits.

The vast tourism industry, according to Durano, will continue to generate more jobs as Philippine tourism stands to become more price-competitive with the global crisis.

“Our more stable economy, being among the least affected in the region, will also become more attractive to foreign investors, more so with the forthcoming enactment of a law that provides for the creation of tourism zones offering incentives for tourism investments,” he said, referring to the Tourism Bill.

“The creation of tourism zones will pave the way for the master-planned development of new tourism destinations, facilities and infrastructure, all immediately generating jobs even while under construction,” he said.

“Investments create jobs faster than trade because money inflows are used directly for capital expenditures from ground up, creating structures and facilities requiring massive employment to operate, maintain and boost business activities,” he added.

Durano said those who lost their jobs in other sectors could take advantage of this emerging development in the tourism industry.

“But first they have to acquire the necessary skills,” he said.