TOURISM stakeholders are anxiously waiting for the appointment of a new chief operating officer at the Tourism Promotions Board , the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism .
In the meantime, lawyer Charles Aames M. Bautista is now officer-in-charge of the agency, after the move of its former COO Maria Anthonette C. Velasco-Allones to the Department of Migrant Workers, where she has been appointed Undersecretary by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. In a statement sent to the BusinessMirror, the HSMA said, “It’s very important and crucial to us [to have a new TPB COO in place] since we work closely with the COO’s office. We hope whoever is appointed is very marketing oriented, easy to deal with, approachable and listens, and consults with us private tourism professionals.”
Under Republic Act 9593 , the TPB formulates and implements an integrated domestic and international promotions and marketing program for the DOT. To be qualified as TPB COO, the nominee “must be a Filipino, with a bachelor’s degree in any of the following fields: business, law, tourism, public administration or other relevant fields and have demonstrated expertise therein. He or she must have been engaged in a managerial capacity for at least five years prior to his or her appointment.