Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco on Thursday (August 4) bared the Department of Tourism (DOT)’s immediate plans to facilitate an interagency technical working group (TWG) which seeks to strengthen the capacity of micro entrepreneurs such as food vendors to provide quality tourism services.
The Department, Frasco said, has reached out to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Agriculture (DA), and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), which shall comprise the said TWG.
“We are facilitating this interagency technical working group (TWG) for the purpose of commencing discussions on the implementation of standards to ensure high quality of tourism services which include regulations on accommodations, services, and pricing standards,” said Secretary Frasco.
The tourism chief said that the DOT can help improve the standards of treating tourists in all destinations through the facilitation of trainings under the Filipino Brand of Service Excellence (FBSE) Program.
The FBSE Program promotes the best qualities and positive values of Filipino hospitality. It is envisioned to enhance and uplift the quality of tourism services in the country aimed at fostering excellent service to tourists as part of our distinct Filipino brand. Thereby, the excellence in service becomes a regional brand and a holistic national identity.
With three unique modules, the tourism program aims to instill the culture of service excellence among tourism stakeholders in the country, and raise the quality of service standards among the workforce in key tourism and service sectors.
“If we are able to come together to agree on certain standards that our destinations would comply with, then this would redound to the overall improvement of our tourism industry because in the end, tourists will be delighted with every destination that they visit, and keep coming back,” Frasco added.
According to the DOT chief, the FBSE trainings will cover topics such as: Service Excellence, Understanding and Engaging Customers, and Complaints Handling.
“The training for the tourism community in Virgin Island, Bohol will commence next week,” Secretary Frasco confirmed.
These trainings, the tourism chief noted, will be open to all interested tourism stakeholders, and would be facilitated by the DOT Office of Industry Manpower Development (OIMD) together with the DOT Region 7 Office in coordination with the Local Government Units.