Push Admin

A waiter uses white gloves to keep from staining clean glasses at a hotel facility in Makati, the country's major business district on Wednesday. Jobs such as this are one of many jobs that belong to the end-of-contract labor scheme, often, workers in this field have to work in shifts and are not regular workers.  Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN news

A waiter uses white gloves to keep from staining clean glasses at a hotel facility in Makati, the country's major business district on Wednesday. Jobs such as this are one of many jobs that belong to the end-of-contract labor scheme, often, workers in this field have to work in shifts and are not regular workers.  

Article (news)

20170315-makati-waiter-jobs-contractualization--1-JC.jpg

Jekki Pascual

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171654252228720170315-makati-waiter-jobs-contractualization--1-JC.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A waiter uses white gloves to keep from staining clean glasses at a hotel facility in Makati, the country&#x27;s major business district. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN news file"/>A waiter uses white gloves to keep from staining clean glasses at a hotel facility in Makati, the country&#x27;s major business district.  Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN news file</div>MANILA - An industry group said the hospitality and tourism sector is facing challenges in retaining employees as many seek better-paying jobs abroad. An official of the Hotel Sales &amp; Marketing Association (HSMA) said the Philippine hotel industry still needs a lot of workers amid the growth in tourism. During a press conference for the upcoming 2nd HSMA Sales &amp; Marketing Summit, HSMA President Loleth So said it is still very challenging to hire new workers and more importantly to urge them to stay. “How to retain them. It’s the retention program of the hotels. How do you keep the employees in hotels happy and not only happy, but content enough to stay where they are and continue to work with the hotel,” said So who is also the Group Commercial Director of Megaworld Hotels &amp; Resorts.The group said it is developing a program to entice workers to enter the hospitality sector and, hopefully, not resign soon.So said many prefer to go abroad because of higher pay. HSMA also noticed that many are enticed by cruise ships abroad, and some countries not usually getting Filipino hotel workers are now doing so, adding more competition for Filipino hotels.“The deficit is coming from a lot of our colleagues going abroad. [The] Middle East has been getting a lot from us, even Japan, surprisingly, despite the language barrier,” added HSMA Director Jenny Gabon-Santillan, who is also the Sales &amp; Marketing Director of City of Dreams Manila.Other tourism workers meanwhile have also been transferring to other industries because of the work-from-home setup, which many hotels can’t offer.The group said it will discuss these issues at their upcoming summit in June which will be attended by around 300 hotel officials and representatives. <div> </div><div>AI in tourism?</div>Aside from the issue of human resources, new trends in the industry will also be discussed.“AI [artificial intelligence] is currently helping the industry digitize itself in a lot ways like chatbots, robots that serve, but it will never ever replace marketing people,” said HSMA Director Agnes Pacis, who is also the Vice President for Commercial of the SM Hotels and Conventions Corp.Despite the workforce challenges, the group said it remains optimistic about the growth of the hotel sector despite inflation, and other economic headwinds. After the ‘revenge travel’ trend last year, the group sees travel demand normalizing this year. So said they look forward to a more dynamic 2025.

An official of the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association (HSMA) said the Philippine hotel industry still needs a lot of workers amid the growth in tourism.

An official of the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association (HSMA) said the Philippine hotel industry still needs a lot of workers amid the growth in tourism.

PH tourism industry losing workers to jobs abroad: industry group

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

Business

PH tourism industry losing workers to jobs abroad: industry group

Jekki Pascual,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 24, 2024 05:22 PM PHT

Read More:

hotel

tourism

Hotel Sales & Marketing Association

HSMA

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.