MANILA - A Sri Lankan group of delegates composed of 21 tourism stakeholders from different sectors conducted a 7-day visit to the Philippines for a tourism benchmarking activity from July 24 to 31.
Mr. Deepthi Lamahewa, the Deputy Program Director of World University Service of Canada (WUSC) based in Sri Lanka headed the delegation in a 7-day visit to the Philippines for a benchmarking program. The Tourism Industry Board Foundation, Inc. (TIBFI) together with the Department of Tourism (DOT) hosted the visit.
Despite some difficulties in processing the visa documents of the participants and unforeseeable changes in schedules, the visit was able to push through as scheduled. The delegates arrived to the Philippines at 12:58 PM via Malaysia Airlines. A lei reception was prepared for the group by the Department of Tourism staffs based in Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 1.
The key goal of the benchmarking visit was to learn best practices from industry experts when it comes to the field of hospitality and tourism management. The benchmarking visit was composed of two locations where ocular visit and a series of talks took place, Manila and Bohol. Different sectors in the tourism industry such as hotels, hospitality industry associations, and the Department of Tourism were able to conduct fora for the Sri Lankan delegates. Statistics, development planning and marketing strategies were among the subjects of the fora.
For days 1 to 3, the delegates stayed in Manila and visited various tourism industry sectors, both private and government institutions. Days 4 and 5 was allotted for the Bohol visit of the delegates where a forum was conducted by the Bohol Association of Hotels, Resorts, and Restaurant (BAHRR). Observation tours were also conducted in various resort establishments in Bohol. At the 6th day of the visit, TIBFI prepared a whole-day workshop event for the participants. For day 7, the group was treated for a historical tour at Luneta Park and Intramuros.
The 7-day tourism-benchmarking visit of the WUSC-Sri Lanka delegates has ended successfully. On 31 July 2016, the scheduled flight of the group was at 03:00 PM going back to Sri Lanka via Malaysia Airlines.