PH to stage 3rd leg of tourism job fair in May

FILE: Applicants troop to the NCCC Davao during a job fair that prioritizes out-of-school youth, led by DC Alliance for Youth Development, USAID 2.0, on Wednesday (Nov. 23, 2022). A total of 30 employers participated in the one-day event that aims to hire some 2,000 individuals. (PNA photo by Robinson Niñal Jr.)

MANILA – The Philippine government will stage the third leg of its tourism job fair in May 2023, the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced Thursday.

The DOT has yet to provide specific dates but said it will coincide with its 50th anniversary on May 11.

As of April 6, the Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso fair by the DOT and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has offered a combined 16,485 employment opportunities to job seekers.

In its recently capped second leg, over 8,185 tourism jobs in Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and Northern Mindanao regions were opened during the fair.

Done in different venues, Central Luzon conducted their job fair at Robinsons Starmills in San Fernando City, Pampanga province; Western Visayas at Robinsons Jaro in Iloilo City; and Northern Mindanao at the Limketkai Mall in Cagayan de Oro City.

Frasco is confident the initiative would contribute to economic recovery by meeting the demands of employers as so-called revenge travel bring in more tourists to the Philippines.

“In line with the pronouncement of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. for the tourism industry to become an engine of employment generation, the Department of Tourism will continue to empower our tourism workforce by giving them access to jobs that will match their skills,” Frasco said.

“Such is the innate characteristic of the tourism industry, its multiplier effect across various sectors can support job creation which is exactly what we wish to achieve as we eye to exceed our targets for this year. The more visitors we have, the more jobs we will create for our fellow Filipinos,” she added.

The DOT-DOLE job fair was formalized through a memorandum of agreement between Frasco and Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma in August 2022.

As of April 5, the DOT has recorded 1,465,253 arrivals with the bulk of visitors coming from South Korea with 369,354, followed by the United States with 263,596, and Canada with 73,079 arrivals.

In 2022, the country surpassed its target by 1 million to 2.65 million arrivals.

This year, the DOT is hoping to reach 4.8 million in foreign tourist arrivals.