THE Philippine hotel industry will need to develop a human capital development plan to address the likely migration of many qualified workers, the Philippine Hotel Owners Association, Inc. (PHOA) said.
“We want to craft a Philippine Hotel Industry Human Capital Development Plan. Because there’s no such document right now,” PHOA Executive Director Benito Bengzon told reporters on Wednesday.
He cited the prevalence of industry workers seeking employment in cruise ships, or in places like Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
“We have to have a document that will tell us what the requirements are. And we’re going to have to crunch the numbers because we cannot expect all the graduates to work here,” he added.
He said some hotel workers will also choose to work in other industries, such as in business process outsourcing.
“We saw it during the pandemic. So this is going to be a very important document because it will tell us what the requirements are for the hotel industry based on the Philippine Hotel Industry Strategic Action Plan (PHISAP) 2023-2028,” he added.
Launched in October last year, PHISAP is a five-year roadmap designed to enhance the competitiveness, sustainable development, and expansion of the hotel industry.
He said a human capital development plan will allow the industry to ensure that all hotels opening in the next five to 10 years will have a qualified pool of manpower to recruit from.
Meanwhile, he said PHOA is seeking to attract more investment at its Philippine Hotel Connect 2025 conference.
Scheduled for July 24-25, event attendance is projected at 300 delegates and 50 exhibitors.
“It will have two components: the conference and the exhibition. And the overall objective is to promote investments in tourism and hotels as part of our commitment to help the Department of Tourism,” he said.
“The second is on the part of our members, the hotel owners, for them to explore other investment opportunities in different forms, whether it’s direct equity investment in other parts of the Philippines or partnering with other groups,” he added.
He said the event will help expand the capacity of the accommodations industry and upgrade the quality of facilities and services in line with the National Accommodation Standards. — Justine Irish D. Tabile