The Department of Tourism (DOT) in collaboration with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has successfully completed the second leg of the Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso, the national Philippine Tourism Job fair launched under the Marcos administration which is the first of its kind in the industry.
According to Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, the job fairs offered more than 8,185 tourism employment in Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and Northern Mindanao.
Secretary Frasco has earlier said that the Department will undertake a holistic approach to tourism going beyond mere promotions to inclusive growth through jobs, and product development to help the Philippine economy recover from the lingering effects of the pandemic.
“In line with the pronouncement of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. for the tourism industry to become an engine of employment generation, the Department of Tourism will continue to empower our tourism workforce by giving them access to jobs that will match their skills,” said Secretary Frasco.
“Such is the innate characteristic of the tourism industry, its multiplier effect across various sectors can support job creation which is exactly what we wish to achieve as we eye to exceed our targets for this year. The more visitors we have, the more jobs we will create for our fellow Filipinos”, the tourism chief added.
The DOT-DOLE job fair is a collaboration between the Departments that was formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement between Secretary Frasco and Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma last August 2022.
All in all, the series of DOT-DOLE job fairs have offered a combined 16, 485 employment opportunities to job seekers.
Regions 3, 6, and 10 conducted separate job fairs in their respective areas to help bring tourism livelihood to the regions with Central Luzon conducting their job fair at Robinsons Starmills in San Fernando, Pampanga, Western Visayas at Robinsons Jaro in Iloilo City, and Northern Mindanao at Limketkai Mall in Cagayan de Oro.
With the Philippines exceeding its benchmark target by one million last year to 2.65 million arrivals, the job fair, Frasco noted, is also seen to boost the economy by meeting the demands of employers following the influx of travelers brought by “revenge travel” caused by more than three years of closed borders.
The third leg of the job fair will be by next month coinciding with the 50th anniversary of DOT on May 11, 2023.
As of April 5, the DOT has already recorded 1,465,253 arrivals with the bulk of visitors coming from S. Korea with 369,354, followed by the US with 263,596, and Canada with 73,079 arrivals. The benchmark target for 2023 is 4.8 million arrivals.
