Cebu tourism stakeholders enhance DRRM plans, skills

The first batch of DOT-7 and OCD-7 trainees with Tourism Regional Director Shahlimar Hofer Tamano. | Contributed photo

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – The responsibilities of tourism stakeholders are no longer limited to just planning tourism packages and organizing tours.

With the COVID-19 pandemic and with the calamities that recently affected Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas, they now feel the need to also enhance their disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) skills.

“As we reboot tourism in Central Visayas, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and considering our experiences with natural calamities, local service providers are demonstrating a lot of concern for the safety and security of guests,” Tourism Regional Director Shahlimar Hofer Tamano said in a statement.

Just recently, DOT-7 in coordination with the Office of Civil Defense in the region (OCD-7) organized a two-day DRRM training.

They already graduated the first batch of 80 trainees.

Personnel coming from at least 40 DOT-7 accredited establishments and individual tourism service suppliers joined the onsite training while there were also those who opted for an online course.

Marlon Barrientos, DOT-7’s representative to the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council 7, said there was “high interest” in the program.

He said that many would-be participants are now waitlisted for similar future activities.

“The course was designed as a workshop to equip stakeholders with the knowledge required in understanding and assessing the hazards and risks involved in disaster situations,” DOT-7 said.

Learnings sessions were made with officers of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PhilVolcs) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (DENR-MGB).

“The program also included sessions on disaster resilience planning, including a session on business continuity to provide better stability for the tourism sector,” DOT-7 said.

Some of the participants, Barrientos said, even plan to pursue partnership with other line agencies for “advanced courses to build on skills acquired from the initial program.”

In the coming days, Tamano said, they plan to also bring the DOT-7 and OCD-7 collaboration to other areas of the region.

A similar course has been scheduled for Bohol’s accommodation and transport players, travel agencies, restaurants and other tourism related establishments this month.

Aside from the DRRM course, DOT-7 has also listed other industry-relevant activities for implementation under the Tourism Industry Skills Training Program in 2022.

/bmjo

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