TOURISM stakeholders are anxiously waiting for the appointment of a new chief operating officer at the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT).
This developed as Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco told reporters she has “already made a recommendation to the President [and the identity] will be revealed in due time.” Stakeholders have long been talking about who would be the next COO, with several names brought up, including popular film director Jeric Soriano, former actress Karla Estrada, and current DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Regulation Coordination and Resource Generation Shalimar Tamano.
In the meantime, lawyer Charles Aames M. Bautista is now officer-in-charge of the agency, after the move of its former COO Maria Anthonette C. Velasco-Allones to the Department of Migrant Workers, where she has been appointed Undersecretary by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Bautista passed the bar exam this year and is considered the next highest-ranking executive of the TPB as its Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Marketing and Promotions. He was nominated and unanimously voted by the government firm’s Board of Directors chaired by Garcia Frasco, to temporarily head the agency, during a special board meeting last August 15.
The right qualifications
The Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA) emphasized the importance of the appointment of a new TPB COO, who can help the tourism industry recover from the pandemic, now that the Philippines has reopened its doors to international travelers.
In a statement sent to the BusinessMirror, the HSMA said, “It’s very important and crucial to us [to have a new TPB COO in place] since we work closely with the COO’s office. We hope whoever is appointed is very marketing oriented, easy to deal with, approachable and listens, and consults with us private tourism professionals.”
HSMA was one of the leading tourism groups that helped the accommodations industry survive the pandemic lockdown. Under its former leadership, the late Christine U. Ibarreta, HSMA collaborated with the DOT to allow hotels in the country to remain open and serve as quarantine facilities for returning Filipinos and overseas Filipino workers.
Under Republic Act 9593 (Tourism Act of 2009), the TPB formulates and implements an integrated domestic and international promotions and marketing program for the DOT. To be qualified as TPB COO, the nominee “must be a Filipino, with a bachelor’s degree in any of the following fields: business, law, tourism, public administration or other relevant fields and have demonstrated expertise therein. He or she must have been engaged in a managerial capacity for at least five years prior to his or her appointment. He or she shall be elected by the Board from a list of qualified applicants and appointed by the [DOT] Secretary.” Due to the GOCC Governance Act of 2011 (RA No. 10149), however, COOs of government firms like TPB have to be reappointed every year, when before, they had six-year terms.
September sale
As part of its annual tradition, the premier organization of hotel sales and marketing leaders in the Philippines, will be holding its September Online Sale (SOS) for the entire month. Last year’s SOS sold over 5,100 vouchers equivalent to P29.2 million in gross sales.
The event will showcase 78 resorts and hotels nationwide, and located in popular beach destinations like Boracay, Palawan, Bohol, Cebu, and Davao. All vouchers purchased during the sale will have no expiry date.
Working on the theme “Eat. Stay. Love,” this year’s event is an invitation to travelers “to re-engage with the world and live a fuller life by rediscovering the joys of travel,” said HSMA president Benjamin Martinez in a news statement. The online travel mart will showcase an array of hospitality packages, which include room stays, weekend getaways, rejuvenating spa experiences, enriching recreational offers such as packaged group tours, and delicious food and beverage deals.
From the safety and comfort of home, travelers can browse the SOS web site https://www.hsma.org.ph/sos/ Travelers can also look forward to planning more life milestones since the fair will also offer discounts on restaurants, meetings and conferences packages, and banquet occasions, such as weddings, debuts, engagement parties among many others.