THE country’s hotel industry is facing a labor shortage as more hospitality professionals, specifically those in the sales sector, look to foreign shores or other industries for employment.
Speaking during Monday’s Virtus Awards, Christine U. Ibarreta, president of the influential Hotel Sales and Marketing Association Inc. (HSMA) said, “Driving across the Filipino brand of hospitality, not only are we experiencing a very real labor shortage, but it is critical to get the right people in place now to optimize the results of sales, marketing and revenue management so as to successfully navigate the industry cycle and softer market conditions.”
The sales and marketing team is the backbone of any hotel, resort or accommodation, on which it relies heavily for its bookings and revenues. HSMA’s Virtus Awards recognizes these young sales and marketing professionals specifically, as well as the marketing campaigns they have undertaken.
Ibarreta later told the BusinessMirror, the labor shortage in the sales force is estimated at “about 15 percent of the hotel industry. There are not that many people now going into hotel sales. Also, those who [do so], are promoted prematurely because their directors for sales and marketing either go abroad, to BPOs [business-process outsourcing], their own business or online travel agencies.”
She explained that a lot of young people are averse to taking jobs in sales because “they are afraid of targets/quotas [imposed by the hotel management]. The job is not for the fainthearted and one should get used to rejections in the course of doing their sales calls.” While targets and quotas are also present in other businesses, in the case of the hotel industry, Ibarreta said, “Everyday it’s measured by room nights and revenues. It will be very evident if the sales officer has no production.”
Salary gaps
Sales professionals who leave for jobs abroad, she noted, do so because of the large disparity in salaries. “They are paid much higher abroad; for instance sales staff in Manila receive P15,000 basic salary plus share from the service charge, while abroad, they receive P25,000 plus service charge and incentives.”
Despite the labor shortage, a recent report by STR showed profits of Metro Manila hotels are rising. Revenue per available room, calculated by multiplying a hotel’s average daily rate by its occupancy, has been healthy across all guest segments, rising by 5.6 percent for transients (short-stay guests) and 9.6 percent for groups in the 12 months to May 2019. In fiscal year 2018, RevPAR was flat, according to the report. (See, “Profits of Metro Manila hotels rising–STR,” in the BusinessMirror, September 12, 2019.)
This year’s Virtus Awards attracted a wide group of nominees from Bayleaf Intramuros, Bellevue Hotels and Resorts, Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort, City of Dreams Manila, Conrad Hotel Manila. Crimson Hotel Filinvest City, Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay, Diamond Hotel Philippines, Golden Phoenix Hotel Manila, Hotel 101 Manila, Hotel Jen Manila by Shangri-La, Joy Nostalgia Hotels and Suites Manila, Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Lima Park Hotel, Midas Hotel and Casino, Oxford Suites Manila, Quest Hotel and Conference Center Cebu, Seda Hotel Abreeza, Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, Solaire Resorts Manila, and Taal Vista Hotel.
This year’s winners are: Rigil Kent Acapulco (The Bellevue Manila) and Ian Bencio David (Conrad Manila) for Outstanding Sales and Marketing Associate; Marvia Jelizha Villarin (The Bellevue Hotels and Resorts) for Outstanding Sales and Marketing Manager; Evangeline Imperial (Solaire Resort Manila), Outstanding Sales and Marketing Leader; and Taal Vista Hotel 80th Anniversary: Here for Always (Taal Vista Hotel) and Passionately Pink (Crimson Hotel Filinvest City) for Outstanding Marketing Campaign.
In her remarks at the awards, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat attributed the strong performance of the tourism sector to the stakeholders who have worked through many challenges to attract visitors to the country.
“The spectacular rise of Philippine tourism is the result not only of our work at the DOT; due credit must be given to all who help push us forward, toward our goals—people and organizations, like the HSMA, whose passion and love for our country go beyond their organizations’s objectives.”
She underscored the cooperation, coordination and collaboration between the stakeholders and government, with the HSMA, now in its 40th year, among those groups the DOT relies on, especially in policy consultations. “We value the generosity and readiness of the HSMA Board to offer us counsel—drawing on their rich, invaluable collective marketing experience—as we formulate projects and policies that work and have tangible, measurable results.”
Foreign visitor arrivals rose by 14 percent to 5.5 million in the eight months to August 2019, with South Korea, China, Japan, and the United States accounting for the largest share of travelers. (See, “8-mo. foreign tourist arrivals up 14% to 5.5M,” in the BusinessMirror, October 14, 2019.)
Image credits: Contributed photo