Tourism officers to train with AIM

The Department of Tourism (DOT) is set to equip tourism officers under the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) nationwide with sustainable development trainings from the Asian Institute of Management.

A memorandum of agreement for this purpose had been signed by Secretary Christina Frasco and ATOP president Junel Ann Divinagracia last week.

The training program is a pioneering partnership between the DOT and the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) – Dr. Andrew L. Tan Center for Tourism.

“The only way that you can really assure that sustainability principles are implemented on the ground is if you seek the experience and knowledge of the people on the ground – our tourism officers – and partner them with the (DOT) Central Office, and our academe,” said Frasco.

This is a capacity-building initiative designed for tourism officers from various local government units (LGUs), integrating sustainability principles and practices into tourism policymaking, planning, management, and product development.

“Through the signing of this memorandum of agreement, we will be able to further concretize the commitment of the Marcos administration to equalize tourism development and promotions across the country,” Frasco stated during her remarks at the MOA signing.

In line with this, Frasco stressed the need to capacitate the tourism officers.

“We cannot even begin to approach this gargantuan task without further capacitating those who see and know the actual situation on the ground – our tourism officers, who are charged with the knowledge of their specific destinations and can be potent partners in implementing, not only theoretically but practically, the principles of sustainability that govern our National Tourism Development Plan,” Frasco added. – Caecent