Tel Aviv – The Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv, in coordination with the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), launched a unique tourism promotion initiative “Our Filipino Caregivers, Our Tourism Ambassadors” during the Post-Arrival Orientation Seminar (PAOS) for newly-arrived caregivers in Israel on 11 February 2020.
The event was attended by DOT officials, headed by London-based Tourism Attaché Gerard Panga, 20 newly-arrived caregivers, and 10 officers of Filipino community organizations in Israel.
The program seeks to empower and motivate the 22,000 Filipino caregivers in Israel to promote their hometown and province as tourism destinations to their employers’ families.
Philippine Ambassador to Israel Neal Imperial highlighted the role caregivers can play in inviting more Israeli tourists to the Philippines. “Filipino caregivers can become effective partners in promoting Philippine tourism. Their provincial and regional organizations conduct events for the Filipino community and their Israeli guests almost every week. Since caregivers are proud of their hometown, they can be cultural and tourism ambassadors who can feature their respective destinations, festivals, dances, songs, and cuisine which are unique in every region in the Philippines. Our caregivers’ daily interaction with the family and friends of their employers can be considered a meaningful way of showing Israelis the Filipino culture and enjoin them to discover more about the Philippines and its people.”
“This program also aims to bring tourism development and more jobs to the countryside since tourist dollars have an economic multiplier effect,” Ambassador Imperial added.
“The Department of Tourism is pleased with the initiative of the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv to feature new destinations in the Philippines by tapping caregivers from the different regions in the Philippines. Local residents are the best persons to know about the tourist attractions of their provinces and regions,” said Tourism Attaché Panga in his message during the launch of the program.
The Filipino community leaders who joined the launch promised to showcase more of their region’s top and new destinations in their respective cultural events, and encourage more Filipino caregivers to become members of regional and provincial organizations and take part in the tourism promotion program.
The tourism program is a community-based project of the Philippine Embassy in enhancing the partnership with the DOT to promote the Philippines as a family-friendly destination with diverse adventures for every category of traveler.
For more information, visit https://www.telavivpe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippine-embassy.org.il or https://www.facebook.com/PHinIsrael.
