THE Department of Tourism (DOT) will officially forge the partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) through a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the tourism job fair program entitled “Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso! National Tourism Jobs Fair” on August 30 to provide the much needed push in the revitalization of the tourism industry’s manpower needs derailed by the pandemic.
Aimed primarily at providing a bridge and impetus for employment opportunities in the tourism sector, the MOU will be signed by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma as heads of their respective departments at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay City.
“We are prioritizing the provision of employment opportunities in the tourism and hospitality sector in response to the severe losses in income and livelihood due to the pandemic, and the present shortage of workforce in the tourism industry. The Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso Job Fairs will help our fellow Filipinos find jobs while helping the accommodation and services sector address workforce shortages, resulting in the continued recovery of the tourism industry as a whole,” said Secretary Frasco.
The Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso! National Tourism Job Fair will be launched during the Hotels Supplier Show on September 22 to 24 at the SMX Convention Center Manila, Mall of Asia Complex. The job fair will be a multi-month campaign and will conclude in May 2023 to coincide with the 50th Founding Anniversary of the DOT. Global-Link MP, the organizer of the Hotels Supplier Show, offered 50 free booths for the job fair program. Among the other initial job fair locations include Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao.
As mentioned in the MOU, the DOT through its Regional Offices will be coordinating with concerned DOLE Regional/Field Offices and Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) in Local Government Units for the conduct of the job fairs; collect relevant job posting information from participating establishments; ensure credibility of all participating employers; and, monitor the submission of job fair reportorial requirements of participating establishments.
The DOLE, for its part, shall provide appropriate assistance on the conduct of DOT sponsored job fairs; ensure monitoring and supervision of all job fairs sponsored by the DOT as organized by concerned PESO pursuant to applicable DOLE guidelines; and, screen the requirements of all participating entities, among others.
Aside from employment opportunities within the country, Tourism Secretary Frasco also recently announced that overseas hospitality career opportunities will be made available to Filipinos in a separate job fair in coordination with the Department of Migrant Workers and DOLE. This, after Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn sought Secretary Frasco’s assistance for possible tourism employment opportunities for Filipinos in Thailand. This developed during the two ministers’ bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the recently concluded APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok.
“Providing tourism employment opportunities in the Philippines and abroad is important because this will help the thousands of Filipino workers and their families who were displaced or repatriated because of the pandemic. For new graduates and others seeking a career in tourism, this will also open new doors for economic prosperity. Overall, the goal is to balance the need for services of the accommodation sector with the needs for employment of tourism workers, that would lend stability to the tourism industry,” enthused Secretary Frasco.
