04 March 2004 Pagdanganan bares his priority programs as DOT chief
Tourism Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan said his task is to produce 1.2 million tourist arrivals at the end of June by generating arrivals preferably as much as 20 percent on a month-to-month period and step up marketing and promotional efforts in the short haul markets of Japan, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea as well as balikbayans in the U.S. and other countries.
Another priority task Pagdanganan announced during a consultative meeting with top tourism stakeholders of the country held last Tuesday at DOT Auditorium, is to continue to promote heavily on domestic tourism by banking on holiday economics; RORO Nautical Highway; create affordable tour packages; encourage participation of local government units and private sectors in promoting tourism; greater police visibility in tourist areas; and further develop a "culture of tourism" among the host communities in local travel destinations.
In response to private sector's clamor of restoring DOT'S tour guide training program and at the same time anticipating the bulk of tourists from the target travel markets, Pagdanganan said that there must be a comprehensive program to train tourist guides conversant enough in different languages like Mandarin, Korean among others, in addition to the seven batches of Korean-speaking guides who were recently trained by the DOT. He likewise appealed to the tourism stakeholders to fully support this program.
Tourism stakeholders composed of different sectors in the tourism industry warmly welcomed newly appointed Tourism Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan to the industry during the consultative meeting.
Federation of Tourism Industry of the Philippines (FTIP) president Alejandra Clemente said "We are optimistic in him being a leader who will always listen and act promptly to the demand of the travel and tourism industry". The federation believes that Pagdanganan was known for his democratic style of government during his term as Bulacan governor who makes sure that everybody was consulted before making important decisions.
President Arroyo appointed Pagdanganan in this position because the President herself believes that he can be an asset to DOT having his extraordinary marketing background for about two decades at the Philippine Refining Company - UNILEVER which may be a big plus factor in handling his new job.
