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The country can cope with the shift in global tourism trend from hectic tour package tours in fast-paced life of cities to the "slow pace life" in the rural areas, said a former Cabinet official.
Former tourism secretary Mina Gabor said the country's laid back culture and pool of caring people are good indications that it can cope with the ongoing and upcoming trends.
Gabor, who is also the Philippine Small and Medium Business Development Foundation president, said the trend now points to community-based rural tourism (CBRT) ? where the cooperation of the public and private sector is a component to make the CBRT succeed.
The CBRT is a term used when rural culture is a key component of the product or service a place offers to tourists.
An example is the Cebu's Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo which showcases the cultural heritage of the province onboard tourist buses.
Gabor described the new tourism direction on not ?too much construction? and ?hectic, ten-day package tours? but towards ?slow cities and slow food.?
?Shopping (will take a turn) from megamalls to folk craft centers (and) will increasingly become critical for tourist destinations,? she told participants of the first CBRT seminar at the Cebu Marriott Hotel.
?There will be no distinction between business and leisure hotels because business clients will look for leisure activities and leisure clients will look for business centers,? Gabor said.
Gabor, who sits in a global council that determine worldwide trends, said meeting places and dining rooms in hotels will be designed less formally in ?an attempt to attract casual business travelers.?
More elderly people will also travel outside of their countries to seek medical attention and health and wellness services in ?health-stels?, she said.
Health-stels is a term which combines healthcare and hotels, creating an integrated facility which caters both to the medical and leisure needs of the patient-tourist.
?There will be a continued rise of healthcare facilities with the presence of the aging population and growing infatuation with healthful living,? Gabor said.
Gabor, however, said that there would be a critical shortage of highly-skilled workers and staff in the hospitality industry, which include tourism, in 2010.
?Human being is one factor which technology can't replace. Schools should realize by now that they should go out of the classrooms and expose students to the field where they can experience actualities,? she said.
Robert Joseph, president of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies, said the organization has co-organized a League of Tourism Students and Educators which aims to address the looming shortage of skilled workers.
Joseph said Naitas has partnered with 117 hospitality and tourism institutions nationwide to think of measures to improve the quality of workers employed in the industry.
