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ALTHOUGH
the
Philippines’
tourism industry is now assessed by the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as the
best-performing in Asia, the number of local manpower
shifting to work in the tourism industry abroad also
continues to rise.
The
demand for work abroad in the fast-growing hotel
industry rushed to more than 50 percent from its base in
June last year, according to the BusinessMirror’s April
Job Ads Index.
According to the UNWTO, visitor arrivals in the last
three years in the Philippines have increased at an
average of 14 percent annually, higher than the growth
rates of other Southeast Asian countries and exceeding
the 7-percent rise of tourist traffic in the
Asia-Pacific Region.
Pan
Pacific Manila, one of the leading job advertisers in
newspapers (i.e., Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily
Inquirer and Philippine Star) and online job sites
(i.e., jobstreet.com.ph, jobsdb.net and bestjobs.ph),
concedes that there’s a high ratio of workers that have
to be replaced because of the lure of working in cruise
lines or hotels abroad.
On an
annual basis, the turnover rate strikes at about 15
percent, says Pan Pacific Manila’s senior operations
manager for education Aubrey T. Ada.
“The
opportunities abroad are becoming wider. [Employers]
abroad are tapping our people. Macau is in need of
people right now, also in Shanghai and in the Caribbean
Islands. We have [lately] lost three people for one of
the Caribbean resorts. Even in airlines, they’re
pirating people from us,” she says.
Very
particular
SADLY,
the people who are left in the local market often don’t
fulfill their requirements in the workplace,
Ada reveals. “It’s hard now looking for people among the
applicants,” she says, adding that most lack
communication skills and the right mindset in the place
of work.
“In
terms of selection, we really have to be very
particular, because we have certain standards,” says Pan
Pacific Manila’s director of people innovation and
education Joyce R. Barcelona. “We are talking here about
butlers. At the onset, attitude and abilities or
potentials should be there.”
She says
they don’t inevitably call for people who have concrete
experiences. “The point here is—for those in the
education field—there’s a real need to improve the level
of education, the presentation, the viability of the
person to be employed,” she stresses, admitting that
their employing rate is only five out of 100 applicants.
Local
scene
DESPITE
the continuing demand of manpower in the international
market, Barcelona says their retention of people remains
pretty fair. “We have retained few from the original
group. Now, there’s 30 percent of the original team of
the [150] people employed here,” she explains.
Despite
the problems, the hotel executive says they continue to
support the need of their guests. Pan Pacific Manila
accommodated more than 73,000 guests in 2006.
Based on
the record of the Department of Tourism (DOT), visitor
arrivals hit 2.84 million in 2006 from 2.29 million in
2004 and 2.63 million the year after. Last year’s
arrivals came as a surprise considering the natural
calamities that affected the country and the off-putting
travel advisories issued by the United States,
Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK against the
Philippines.
In
general, the largest growth was seen in tourist arrivals
from South Korea and China, where Korean and Asiana
Airlines have seen their cargo factor increase
noticeably. Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and
Chinese airlines are planning for more flights because
of a surge in bookings.
Barcelona
estimates that local hotel employees stay around for an
average of two years before packing for overseas. This
isn’t enough. “We would also want them to grow in our
organization. If they would stay more than two years, it
would be better for us,” she says.
She
continues: “But then again, it is a decision that they
make whether they want to leave, because there are a lot
of opportunities outside. That’s our main
competitor—those in the international market.”
Competitive people
IN some
ways, local hotels are now improving in terms of
employee retention. Pan Pacific Manila, for one,
provides its employees with various fun activities. “We
spend time with our associates, where they provide us
with so many opportunities almost on a monthly basis:
sports-related, fun-related, parties left and right, and
even movie shows in the hotel,” Barcelona says.
She says
Pan Pacific Manila is trying to keep “more energetic and
more receptive” individuals by making them active in the
communities, which creates a balance in the workplace.
“It
translates to the guests that they serve. If they’re not
happy, our guests won’t be happy. It shows that it comes
from the heart, and it’s not being ordered. The guests
can really sense it. And I guess that’s one of the nice
things from our butlers,”
Barcelona
boasts.
Giving
their people proper education also motivates them to
stay in the local industry, Ada says. Last April, for
instance, the hotel management invited British master
butler Wayne Fitzharris to conduct a five-day Butler
Education program. Pan Pacific Manila is the only hotel
in the country with butlers incorporated into its guest
services.
“But
despite giving them these motivations or activities,
when they’re lured with all the big opportunities
abroad, we can’t do anything,” Ada sighs, saying that as
long as they stay in the local market, they would
continue to keep their employees as multifunctional as
possible.
Hotel
developments
LOCAL
hotels are adding more rooms because they’re not enough
to meet the growing demand for more visitors, thus
creating constant demand of workers in the industry.
Recently, the Philippine Travel Agencies Association
disclosed that the country had to divert more than
500,000 foreign visitors, representing revenue losses of
$400 million, to other destinations last year because
there was lack of hotel rooms and flights into the
various tourist destinations of the Philippines.
The
number of hotel rooms in the Philippines posted a record
13,939 in 2006, a 9.9-percent increase from the 12,683
recorded in 2005, according to multinational property
broker CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).
“Last
year was a good year for Philippine tourism and the
steadily upbeat performance since 2004 must be sustained
through the upgrading of infrastructure, tourism
facilities and services in main tourism destinations, as
well as increasing the number of hotel and resort
facilities,” CBRE notes.
With
this positive development, CBRE says the Philippines is
getting a lot of investments for new hotel developments.
Ayala
Hotels, a subsidiary of Ayala Land Inc., has partnered
with Kingdom Hotels for a $153-million hotel complex
within the Ayala Center, which will have 300 rooms, 30
suites and 189 private residences.
SM
Investments is also developing two hotels in the Manila
Bay area and Cebu City, with 350 and 400 hotel rooms for
Manila and Cebu, respectively.
With the
success of Bellevue Manila Hotel in the emerging
business district of Alabang, its owners were encouraged
to build a third 25-story tower that will provide an
additional 198 deluxe rooms, at a project cost of P1.05
billion.
Other
hotel projects in the pipeline are the Eastwood Park
Hotel & Residential Suites, a 38-story hotel and
condotel project on top of a mall complex at the heart
of Eastwood City; and the proposed Shangri-La Hotels and
Resorts’ six-star hotel on a 1.2-hectare property in the
Bonifacio Global City.
Because
of the significant increase in tourist arrivals in the
Visayas, three international hotel and resort chains are
setting up facilities there: Banyan Tree Hotels and
Resorts, Raffles Hotels and Resorts, and Four Seasons
Hotels and Resorts.
Future
hotel developments also include the 616-room Imperial
Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa, a Korean-Filipino
venture, which broke ground in July 2006 in Maribago,
Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
Spa
tourism
OWING to
the fact that most hotels are offering spa services,
this trend has become necessary to attract tourists—and
even investors. It is projected to be a trillion-dollar
global industry in the future.
Spa
tourism is one of the components of the Department of
Tourism’s (DOT) project in positioning the country as a
health and wellness destination in Asia. In 2006 the
industry posted an average of 1,296 spa visits per day,
or 35 spa visits per establishment, according to the
department.
According to the DOT, spa tourism gives additional
source of revenue for 158 health- and wellness-related
registered companies that manufacture organic and
natural products, herbal and natural personal care,
herbal food supplements, and other health services.
The hype
of spa businesses has significantly contributed numbers
in the labor force. Last year, it generated 1,069 jobs,
or an average of 53 jobs per spa facility.
For
instance, an all-Filipino concept destination spa in
Tagaytay is giving livelihood to its residents. “We got
our employees from different barangays nearby. As part
of their social responsibility, they treat every guest
with care and courtesy, and they have passion to what
they’re doing,” says Nurture Spa’s chief executive Mike
Turvill, emphasizing that they started with four key
people, and now growing to over 60 employees.
The
unique operation of Nurture Spa has led them to a more
promising height, saying “we are now available for
franchise and help others maximize every chance of
profitability. It comes with two options; we can provide
manpower and products or management consulting to
maximize their financial profitability.” Turvill says
they’re currently in partnership with Marco Polo Davao.
Next
year, Nurture Spa is looking to expand in Camarines Sur
and Camiguin—two of the southern locations “fit to
attract new business destinations endorsed by the
government,” adds Nurture Spa’s president Catherine
Brillantes-Turvill.
On the
other hand, The Spa, one of the pioneers in the wellness
industry, is also considering branching out to The Fort
in Taguig, which will soon become its flagship branch,
and to TriNoMa in Quezon City.
Says The
Spa marketing manager Aimee Aquino: “We are [expanding]
to strategic locations to give more accessible points
for our clients and hit more of the A and B market at
the same time.”
The Spa
has five branches in Metro Manila. Its various themes
like tropical, Moroccan, Oriental Thai, minimalist Asian
and monastery, carve an enthusiasm and attraction for
its regulars. Aquino says they want to provide a
different feel and experience to their guests every time
they visit the spa.
Training
schools
SPA
businesses give timely opportunities for others who
can’t afford to get a degree, given the training and
product knowledge of administering spa services provided
to prospective employees. Training schools are becoming
more popular for the reason of soaring demands for
therapists and aestheticians worldwide.
The Spa
Professionals International Development Center is one of
the recognized local training facilities for people who
wish to learn the holistic approach of basic and
advanced spa therapy training. It is the only spa
training school in the country that is accredited by the
Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and
Cosmetology, a UK-based organization known for its high
levels of training and strict quality control.
Brillantes-Turvill, who is its president, says
spa-related jobs fit the present economic conditions of
aspirants who want to earn big yet there are
insufficient means.
“Many
people want to take up nursing and work overseas. [But]
this course won’t let them just spend P100,000, three
months of training and go abroad,” says
Brillantes-Turvill, explaining that some who have
undergone their training are now earning an average of
$1,000 a month excluding tips and allowances.
The DOT
provides accreditation to spa-conforming businesses to
make them lure international clients. More than 42
percent of accredited members were added in 2006 and are
expected to boost in the coming years for not reaching
yet its peak. |
