by Franklin P.
Gumapon
DIPOLOG CITY, Aug.
7 (PIA) - - Schools offering tourism as well as hotel and restaurant courses in
region 9 are now one in their quest for excellence in tourism and hospitality
education.
Some 150 college
students taking up tourism and hotel and restaurant management from 11 schools
in the region recently converged here for the second Zamboanga Peninsula
tourism and hospitality education congress organized by the Council of Tourism
and Hospitality Educators of Zamboanga Peninsula (CTHEZP) headed by Dr. Joseph
G. Refugio of Saint Vincent’s College (SVC) in this city.
The congress, which
was anchored on the theme, “Quest for Excellence: Sustainability in Hospitality
Education,” centered its discussions on “the role of hospitality education in
meeting global challenges, the role of tourism in hospitality education
partnership, executive etiquette in the service industry, and building and
regenerating learning communities.”
In his message
before the participants, Department of Tourism (DOT)-IX’s head of tourism
planning and development unit Bernard C. Gregorio said “the tourism industry is
growing strongly offering more employment opportunities than other industries
in the world.”
“In the
Philippines, tourism industry ranked fourth in terms of economic
contributions,” Gregorio stressed.
He also commended
the organizers for spearheading such a gathering as this would serve as an
avenue for knowledge sharing between and among the professors and students to
elevate the standards of hospitality education.
The congress
participants were coming from Dipolog City Institute of Technology (DCIT),
Dipolog City, Colegio de San Francisco Javier of Rizal, Zamboanga del Norte,
Jose Rizal Memorial State University (JRMSU)-Katipunan, Katipunan, Zamboanga
del Norte, Medina College Ipil, Inc. (MCII) of Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, Western
Mindanao State University (WMSU) of Zamboanga City, Southern Mindanao College
(SMC) of Pagadian City, Immaculate Concepcion Archdiocesan School (ICAS) of
Zamboanga City, Zamboanga City State College of Marine Science and Technology
(ZSCMST), JRMSU-Tampilisan, Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga City
Polytechnic State College (ZPSC) of Zamboanga City and SVC, the host school.
(FPG/PIA-Zamboanga del Norte)