Showing posts with label tourism industry. Show all posts

Mga Dapat Iwasan ng mga Nagpo-promote

Ng Turismo at Nagsusulat tungkol Dito

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Pagdating sa turismo, dapat ay nakikipagtulungan sa isa’t isa ang lahat ng mga Pilipno, karaniwan mang mamamayan o mga opisyal ng pamahalaan. Dapat ay hindi nagpapaligsahan kung aling festival ang pinakamaganda, kung aling baybaying dagat ang may pinakamaputing buhangin, kung aling delicacies ang pinakamasarap, etc. Kung may competition sa street dancing, dapat ituring lang ito na simpleng katuwaang kumpetisyon, kaya nga ang mga sumasali ay iba ang pinapakita kaysa sa actual na street dancing.

Ang dapat na mangyari ay magkanya-kanya ng promote ng sariling touristic come-ons nang hindi nagbabanggit ng ibang bayan upang maiwasan ang paghambing. Masakit sa mata ang mga blogs na nagsasabing “….mas maganda ang “Iloilo Dinagyang” kung ikumpara sa “Cebu Sinulog” o sa “Antique Binirayan” o “Kalibo Ati-Atihan”. HAYAANG MGA TURISTA ANG MAGHUSGA.

Sa bagay na ito dapat mag-ingat ang mga nagkukunwaring mga blogger na mahilig magkumpara ng mga napuntahan at nakita nila. PWEDENG IKUMPARA ANG SERBISYO AT KALINISAN O KADUMIHAN NG TINIRHANG HOTEL O PENSION HOUSE….BUT NEVER ANY FESTIVAL OR NATURAL ATTRACTIONS, DAHIL MAY KANYA-KANYA SILANG KATANGIAN. SAMANTALANG ANG SERBISYO NG TOURISTIC FACILITIES AY MAY “STANDARDS” NA DAPAT SUNDIN.

HINDI RIN DAPAT IKUMPARA ANG MGA PAGKAIN DAHIL SA TINATAWAG NA “LOCAL VERSIONS”. HALIMBAWA AY ANG “DINUGUAN” DISH….DAHIL IBA ANG VERSION NG BICOL, IBA RIN SA ILOILO, ILOCOS,  KATAGALUGAN, AT CHRISTIAN MINDANAO. ANG “PINAKBET” AY GANOON DIN, PATI ANG IBA PANG LUTUING PILIPINO. KAHIT ANG SIMPLENG TORTANG TALONG AY IBA-IBA RIN ANG VERSION. KAYA, ANG DAPAT GAWIN AY I-DESCRIBE LANG KUNG ANO ANG NATIKMAN…HUWAG IKUMPARA SA IBA PANG NATIKMAN NA.

Ang inaasahan ngayon ng Pilipinas upang kumita maliban sa pag-attract ng investors, ay ang turismo. Kung “maghihilahan” ang iba’t ibang lalawigan at rehiyon, patuloy na magiging kulelat ang Pilipinas na napapag-iiwanan na ng iba pang bansa sa timog silangang Asya, tulad ng Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar at Vietnam. Naipakita ng mga nabanggit na bansa maliban sa Thailand, Malaysia at Indonesia na hindi kailangang magkaroon ng nagtataasang skyscrapers upang makahatak ng mga turista. Streetfoods na likas sa diet ng mga tao ang hindi nila ikinahihiyang ibandila sa ibang bansa kaya natugunan nila ang gusto ng mga foreign tourists na makadanas ng “exotic adventure”. Maliban diyan ay nagpapakita rin sila ng makulay nilang kultura, hindi ang mga “hiniram” o ginaya sa mga Amerikano o Tsino.

The Consistency of PAL- Davao in Maintaining

The Airline’s High Quality of Service Standards

By Apolinario Villalobos

Davao station of Philippine Airlines is considered as the hub of its operation in Mindanao and lately, its scope extends to the neighboring Asian countries. As I have worked with the said company for a little more than twenty years and left it during the early years of the new management’s take over, I can very well say that I have an idea of what had been and what are being done as regards the customer satisfaction which fortunately has been maintained due to the consistency of the airline’s high standards.

According to Mr. Vic Suarez, the new Head for Mindanao Sales Area, the airline will not compromise its high standard by scrimping on other aspects of operations as some sort of an offsetting, most especially, by offering low fares, except the seasonal promos. High quality of service can only be assured if there is enough manpower that can attend to the requirements of customers. As can be observed, all ticketing offices and the check-in counters at the airport terminals are adequately manned by equally vibrant personnel of Macro-Asia. Mr. Suarez is supported by Ma. Leana Sanga, Secretary; Edgardo Ramos, Staff Assistant; and Ricardo Ambrosio, Sr. Market Planning Analyst.

If international cuisine has its “fusion” dishes concocted based on different cultural influences, PAL has its “fusion service”. It is my own terminology and I came up with it in view of the harmonious co-operation of service providers and the held-over organic PAL employees. As in Manila, this unique and harmonious fusion of effort is also found in the operation of PAL in Davao. The ticketing office at the Davao airport is manned by the organic PAL employees, while the check- counters, load control, and the Mabuhay Lounge are manned by the young staff of Macro-Asia. Behind them, such as the Airport Service Manager, Ms. Ludy Bagares and the Customer Service Officers are all organic PAL employees. Helping them out in the overall operation is Excellent, the manpower agency that provided the aircraft cleaning crew, janitorial and porter service.

The Customer Service Officers who have spent a good number of years with PAL are Leonilo Abella, Ernie Adrias, Archie Batu, Karlo Respicio, Marlon Rosales, Allen Dizon, Art Migalben, and Anthony Paradela, with the last four mentioned also handling Cargo.

The Macro-Asia Supervisors are  Charlie Erojo, Erwin Tongco, Dennis Tiamson, Rommel Covarubias and June Dalisay. The Passenger Services Agents is Ruben Maglaya; and Cargo Service Agents, Ben Arcayan and Julbert Nolasco. The ramp area is handled by the Ramp Service Agents, Ruel Catao, Cyril Pollaris and Joel Montales, while the Ramp Equipment Repairman is Lambert Lazaro.

Ms. Bagares expressed that so far, their operation is smooth and without any hassle as the traditional and high PAL standards are maintained to ensure that the customers get the commensurate worth of what they paid for to reach their destination safely. 

THE FIRST AND LAST BOOK OF

MR. RICARDO G. PALOMA

…The Cordillera Tourism Master Plan

By Apolinario Villalobos

Mr. Ricardo G. Paloma, “Tatang” to his subordinates is well-remembered for his patience, thoroughness, and flow charts. He is so systematic that anything that had got to do with PAL operations were covered with a flowchart so that mishandling of passengers, baggage and cargoes can be easily pointed out along the way – from the time plane tickets were cut up to the time the passenger has left the airport terminal; from the time a baggage has been checked-in to the time it has been claimed at the destination; and from the time a cargo has been accepted for shipment up to the time it has been claimed by the consignee. Even phone calls were monitored together with the length of time involved in attending to the callers and from such transactions, their “requirements” should be noted and taken up during sales meetings.

He was also engrossed in the state of the Philippine tourism industry, particularly, on how PAL could contribute to its development. In this regard, the Tours and Promotions Information Center at the Terminal 4 (formerly, Domestic Airport) was set up and headed by Mr. Vic Bernardino as Manager, with pioneer staff, Ed Buensuceso, Mayee Santos-Cuenco, Thelma Villaseἧor, John Fortes, Reggie Constantino, and Alex Enrile. The TOPIC Magazine was used as research and information tool to promote local tourism, with Alex Enrile as the Editor. I was fortunate to have taken over the job of Alex Enrile as Editor when he left for the United States. I just joined PAL for barely a yera then, with Tablas station as my first assignment. Later on, the PALakbayan Tour Program which “segmentized” the traveler according to his needs was conceptualized and sold as a tour package, both to the domestic and international tourists. He was also regularly consulted by the Department of Tourism which earned him the recognition as, “Mr. Tourism”.

I did not know that ever since I started contributing my poems and essays to the dailies and magazine even while in Tablas, Mr. Paloma had instructed his secretary, Bill Trinidad to clip and collect them. I came to know about what he did when he summoned me to his office on his last day as SVP-Finance, an extended job after he retired as VP-Sales, Philippines. I found him and Bill packing up. While I was taking coffee that he, himself prepared, he opened an attaché case and showed me the contents - original copies of clippings that caught me by surprise. I did not even know that my materials were published because I had no time to check them. As a consolation, he had them copied and gave me the duplicates. He also gave me his first Parker pen which was given to him by his wife, according to him.

Several months after he left PAL, I was surprised when his driver visited me in my new office at S&L Building, along Roxas Boulevard in Ermita, because during the time, our Tours and Promotions group was integrated into the International Sales-Philippines which was under Mr. Rene Ocampo and later on, Mr. Archie Lacson as RVP-Philippines and Guam, after a brief stint with the Metro Manila Sales which was then, under Mila Limgenco as Senior Asst. Vice-President. The driver told me that Mr. Paloma was in the car parked at the egress of the building and he would not like to come up, so I went to him only to know that he was inviting me to a lunch at the French Baker at the Greenbelt Park, across the Vernida Bldg. where we used to hold office. He was aware of my diet so he chose his favorite Frenchy bakeshop-cum-restaurant, just to be sure that I would have my salad.

Over the lunch of salad and bread downed with coffee, he asked me if I had the time to edit some documents for him, to which I immediately said yes. With that, he gave me a brown envelop with documents. When he brought me back to S&L, he told me while smiling that more are coming to which I said, no problem. From then on, at least once a week, he would have me fetched at my office for lunch at the French Baker in Makati. The driver would also deliver to me batches of documents for editing.

After a lull of about two weeks he fetched me again for lunch after which he showed me a neatly bound book, “The Cordillera Tourism Master Plan”. What he told me while handing me the book and which I could not forget was, “you inspired me to do this”.

He had three copies made, one for me with a dedication, another copy for the Department of Tourism, and the third copy for his library at home. Many months transpired and our lunch became infrequent, only to learn that he was sick. My fault was that I did not find time to visit him….only at his wake. To compensate for my irresponsibility, I made a poem and essay for him. Both saw print in the PALiner. I know that those who know Mr. Paloma will agree with me that he was a great employee who started from the ranks as a porter, PAL ever had…our one and only “Tatang”.