CEBU CITY – Universities and colleges offering hospitality management and tourism courses are urging tourism industry stakeholders for a long-term collaboration to ensure that graduates are equipped with updated information and skills they need to enter the global tourism industry.

Dr. Edgar Detoya, Dean of the College of Commerce and Business Management and Administration Graduate School of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJR) said collaborating with industry stakeholders will surely provide advantages to graduates of tourism-related courses.

Detoya took notice of the fact that Cebu is now considered one of the country’s top island destinations and he is requesting tourism experts to provide help in preparing students for the challenges that lie ahead.

He said that while the academe is working hard to equip the students with the knowledge based on the curriculum, industry experts are the authority when it comes to the latest global tourism industry trends and updates.

“It is important that tourism students are also brought up to speed on what is happening in the global tourism industry, not just on what is written on books,” said Detoya.

Detoya recently met with Dr. Robert Lim Joseph, founding Chairman of the Tourism Educators and Movers (Team) Philippines and the League of Tourism Students of the Philippines, to discuss possible ways by which the academe and stakeholders can collaborate.

Team Philippines is composed of representatives from the Department of Tourism, Deans and Professors of member schools and universities and some representatives from the private sector.

The group is a private sector-led initiative aimed to shepherd students and educators to enhance and improve their skills to be globally competitive in today’s challenging tourism market.

Joseph said only a small percentage of the thousands of tourism students who graduate each year is absorbed by the industry due to the fact that most tourism curriculum being offered in universities are not updated.