DAVAO CITY — The Council of Hotel and Restaurant Educators of the Philippines (COHREP) hopes to strike more international faculty exchanges as a means of raising standards for staffing in the tourism industry.

Joji Ilagan-Bian, COHREP 2019 council chair, noted that the country’s growing hospitality industry, which currently employs almost half a million people, needs to strengthen the quality of academic training.

At the COHREP 27th Annual Convention held in Davao City earlier this year, Ms. Bian said the council’s members, together with tourism stakeholders and government agencies, set a goal of improving qualifications and setting guidelines for hotel and restaurant management education and expanding academic research.

“This year’s convention also gave industry members the opportunity to provide their valuable input in aiding the development of the hospitality industry,” Ms. Ilagan-Bian, also the honorary consul general of Bangladesh for Mindanao, said in an interview.

Nicole Hao Bian, COHREP-Davao Region president, said stronger collaboration with educators worldwide will give the Philippine industry a better grasp of international standards.

“By benchmarking… we will be able to help our hospitality schools… especially educators who also need extra exposure,” Ms. Bian said. — Maya M. Padillo

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