TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) — The Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will orient the academe on the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals (MRA-TP).
Around 80 officials of tertiary and TESDA-accredited vocational schools in Eastern Visayas will attend an orientation Tuesday afternoon at the Oriental Hotel in Palo, Leyte.
Signed by the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in November 2012, the MRA-TP will enable the mobility of employment for skilled tourism labor within the region or the movement of tourism professionals among member countries.
“We want to make the academe aware that there is the recognition of skills and qualifications of working tourism professionals from different ASEAN countries. This is part of harmonizing the standard for workers in tourism industry in Southeast Asia,” said DOT Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes.
The mutual arrangement is up for integration in 2015 where ASEAN-certified tourism professionals who pass the common competency standards may find tourism-related jobs that are common among member countries.
“However, before one may be certified, a tourism professional has to accomplish a set of basic and essential requirements before being considered as qualified for a particular job,” Tiopes added.
Presently, ASEAN countries offer six kinds of jobs for tourism professionals such as front office, housekeeping, food production, food and beverage services, travel agency and tour operations.