On the Dot
Taxi drivers as tourism frontliners, goodwill guiding, 2nd Iloilo IAD, etc.
The Department of Tourism Region VI led by Regional Director Edwin G. Trompeta in cooperation with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Region VI and Association of Taxi Operators in Panay (ATOP), Inc. has embarked on a series of seminars-trainings for taxi drivers as tourism frontliners starting March 28, 2006 and every other Tuesday thereafter until August 1, 2006. The venue of the seminar-training is the Mandiga Conference Hall, DOT Region VI Bldg., Bonifacio Drive, Iloilo City. Target participants are 500 taxi drivers for the 10 seminar-training sessions that make up the first batch. There are more than 2,000 taxi drivers operating in Panay.
The seminar portion of the one-day 'taxi drivers as tourism frontliners' project is an introduction to tourism, its significance and the taxi drivers' part in the tourism system by RD Edwin Trompeta himself or, in his absence, this writer. The frontliners' human relations, inquiry handling, personality, grooming, speech skills as well as the qualities and roles of taxi drivers as tourism frontliners are taught by Yehlen Camarista, herself a frontliner of note in the tourism industry of Western Visayas being a professional tour guide/lecturer-trainer licensed by the city government of Iloilo and accredited by the Department of Tourism. Skills on basic tour guiding are imparted to the taxi drivers by Willie Genciana, former vice president of Rajah Tours and now Professor in the Institute of HRM and Tourism, Central Philippine University. Backgrounder on the tourist spots in Iloilo and the other provinces of Panay were also discussed by Miss Camarista and Mr. Genciana to equip the taxi drivers knowledge on the tourist spots they pass along the way or visited by their passengers from day to day.
The seminar-training for taxi drivers in Panay is just one of the many projects in the DOT VI's campaign to make Western Visayas more tourist- friendly even as it develops new products designed to attract more tourists. It maybe recalled that during the recent 2-day Western Visayas Regional Tourism Summit held at Sarabia Manor Hotel Iloilo City, resource speakers led by Atty. Osar P. Palabyab, DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Services and Regional Offices noted that this region has established its strong hold in the domestic and foreign tourist markets as evidenced by tourist arrival figures. Western Visayas ranks third as a destination after the National Capital Region (NCR) and Central Visayas (Region VII).
The DOT Region VI also conducts trainings for professional tour guides and goodwill guides and other frontliners in Western Visayas. It conducted a training for the frontliners of Bacolod City during its hosting of the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and a seminar on goodwill guiding and frontline skills for the tourism officers of Aklan and personnel of the jetty port in Catiklan, Malay, Aklan late last year. Early this year, a goodwill guiding seminar was conducted for officials and employees, municipal tourism council officers and student leaders of Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.
Seminars for sales clerks of the pasalubong centers and souvenir shops and personnel of money changers and other tourism frontliners are in the planning stage. Meanwhile, the DOT Region VI is preparing the module for tourism awareness and capability building seminars in the Western Visayas countryside starting with the 2nd Iloilo Integrated Area Development (2nd IAD) composed of five (5) cluster municipalities of the 2nd District of Iloilo, namely, Alimodian, Leon, San Miguel, New Lucena and Sta. Barbara. These cluster municipalities have identified the development of tourism industry as their one common thrust and will start off with the drafting of the 2nd IAD Tourism Master Plan.