Manpower shortages puts hospitality sector in the Philippines at risk

Amidst the country’s tourism sector recovering, the hospitality industry face difficulties in hiring new workers; outsourcing sector and opportunities abroad drained hospitality workers affected by pandemic job losses; MICE sector also accelerating bookends nationwide

Original article by Ehda Dagooc for Philippine Star’s Freeman

The hotel occupancy rate in the Philippines is seen to breach at least 65 percent by the end of 2023, partly driven by holiday spending and the holding of more Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) events.

According to the latest market pulse released by Colliers Philippines, the strong arrival momentum in the first half of 2023 is likely to improve in the next few months, and MICE and holiday-related travels fueled the surprising recovery performance of the country’s tourism sector.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed that as of the first half of 2023, international visitors to the Philippines reached 2.7 million, up 232 percent from the 814,141 arrivals in the same period in 2022. The DOT expects tourist arrivals to reach 4.8 million in 2023.

Cebu-based hotel operators affirmed the rise of MICE and holiday travel bookings, however, some are facing difficulties in hiring more people coming from lean manpower operations due to the pandemic.

In an interview with Mia Singson-Leon, Hotel, Resort, and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) executive vice president, she said that hoteliers are also facing a prevailing challenge in manpower supply.

Singson-Leon, who is also the general manager of Quest Hotel & Conference Center, confirmed that MICE events both domestically and internationally organized are coming in even as early as last year.

The recovery of hotels is on track as foreign guests have since come back, and the industry is trying to lure MICE events to Cebu, she added.

Singson-Leon admitted that while the industry has welcomed the return of Korean, American, European, and Australian tourists, they are still waiting for the return of the Chinese and the Japanese.

Prior to the COVID-19-induced crisis, tourists from Japan and China accounted for most of the international arrivals to Cebu, along with the island’s top market, the Koreans.

While this is a good problem, Singson-Leon said that those hotel personnel who temporarily lost their jobs during the COVID-19 lockdown are now getting good employment abroad, mostly in high-paying luxury cruise liners, or resorts and hotels abroad.

Learn more about the issues facing hoteliers in the Philippines and more interviews with hospitality leaders, read the full story by Ehda Dagooc for Freeman here: https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-business/2023/08/22/2290493/manpower-shortage-hits-hotel-sector-amid-tourism-recovery