The Tourism Management Program of the FEU Cavite (FEUC) Higher Education Department (HED) held a three-day Travel and Tourism Operations Skills (TRATOPS) Development Training on October 19 and 26, and November 9, 2018 at the HED Room 111 and Events Room. TRATOPS intended to provide hands-on training to the students and allow them to experience how things are done in the field of Tourism. Student-participants were given materials and were exposed to activities applied on real scenarios. This further provided them the platform to understand customer needs and expectations.
Demonstration on In-Flight Operations by a BS Tourism Management student
The BS Tourism Management Students were trained on “In-Flight Operations” by Ms. Kim Hakenson, Senior Flight Attendant of Cebu Pacific Air; “Ground Handling Operations” by Mr. Kent Ito, Passenger Service Agent, Ground Steward of Cebu Pacific Air; and “Tour Guiding Operations” by Mr. Romano Del Rosario, Operations Manager of Tuesday Tours and Travel, President of Philippine Association of Accredited Tourist Guides Lecturer Inc., and Vice-President for Luzon of Philippine Tour Guide Federation.
The trainers said one thing about the FEUC BS Tourism Management students. “They are future-ready as they are passionate about learning.” Ms. Hakenson encourages the students to allow themselves to be molded. According to her, combining all four years in college is never enough so her advice for the soon-to-be-employed is to formulate a technique to learn. She wanted them to memorize by heart so that even if they forget a word, the procedures will come out naturally. “There are so many lives and souls in their hands, and they can save them. Use it as inspiration,” she said.
TRATOPS: In-Flight Operations group photo with trainer, Ms. Hakenson [center], and FEU Cavite Executive Director and Dean of Higher Education, Dr. Marcon Espino, Tourism Management Coordinator, faculty, and students
Mr. Ito shared that one of the most challenging scenarios as a Customer Service Agent is to entertain a lot of irate passengers when flight schedules are delayed. He handled a trainee from FEU Cavite, Ms. Joyme Palmares, during an incident when an airplane skid the main runway during landing causing more than 20,000 passengers stranded. He was satisfied by her enthusiasm, initiative, and confidence. During the training, he said, “I am satisfied because they responded right away to my questions. They listened eagerly. No wonder why your students are like that.”
TRATOPS: Group Handling Operations group photo with trainer, Mr. Kent Ito
Mr. Del Rosario is a Registered Nurse but is in love with the Tourism Industry. He said, “You’ll end up as a successful practitioner if you have realigned your educational background towards the practice you are doing because practice without foundation and related theories is nothing.” According to him, he himself underwent training, and TRATOPS is a significant activity for the students to learn the foundation by heart, and actualize the theories. He wanted them to overcome the challenge by developing the confidence in talking to people and organizing their thoughts based on standards. “For a half day lecture, they were able to do an amazing performance and execution of the challenge”, he added.
TRATOPS: Tour Guiding Operations group photo with trainer, Mr. Romano Del Rosario