ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 25, 2013) – The Department of Tourism in Western Mindanao has recently conducted Basic Tourism Statistics Training in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province as part of a new system aimed at standardizing the collection of data sources in the region.
The training, held at Hotel Guillermo, was intended to capacitate accommodation establishments and local government units in tourism data gathering which is essential in in-house marketing and planning for tourism development. It was participated by 39 owners and managers of accommodation establishments in the province and 11 tourism officer and staffs of local government units.
The agency said the new system was adopted to support the confidentiality of each establishment’s data, protecting them from the use of data other than for statistical purposes.
“The training taught tourism officers and accommodation establishments’ owners how to standardize their collection of data sources. An automated system of data recording was also introduced to them. Through these trainings, submission of tourism statistics and data in the region will improve,” the DOT said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
“Statistics is an important indicator of tourism success. It is used for designing marketing strategies, strengthening inter-institutional relations, evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of management decisions and measuring tourism throughout the national economy,” it said.
The DOT said it has set more upcoming tourism statistics trainings for other provinces and cities in the region which is also comprised of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay provinces, and the cities of Dipolog, Dapitan and Zamboanga.
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