Hospitality Industry News Updates brought to you by MY RANGGO Hospitality Magazine for the week ending 25 July 2025.
Our Tourism & Hospitality Industry News Headlines
- Tourists Stranded Due to Ongoing PH Storms
- Filipino Brand of Service Excellence Summit & Awards held in Alabang
- PHOA Announces Manpower Roadmap to curb Hospitality Labor Shortages
- Bojo River – Cebu, named as a premier ecotourism model.
- 18 Filipino Crewmen Arrested & Deported from America
- Barcelona Cuts Cruise Ships
Tourists Stranded Due To Ongoing Storms
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco held an Emergency Tourism Response Operations meeting with Regional DOT offices, on 24th July. During the meeting it was reported that more than 1,070 tourists have been stranded as a consequence of several storms and cyclones that have landed in the Philippines in the last week.
Most tourists have been stranded as a result of flight and ferry cancelations. With Regions 8 (Eastern Visayas) and 10 (Northern Mindanao) experiencing some of the worst impacts.
Tourist activities such as island hopping, diving, swimming and trekking have been suspended across 11 regions, to ensure tourist safety. There are currently no reported tourist injuries or deaths.
Some sites and buildings in Intramuros, Manila, have experienced damage from flood water and will receive assistance from TIEZA to inspect and asses the damage. Other Regional DOTs reported on damage to boats used for tourism, trails and facilities, providing provisional damage costs and impacts.
The Tourism Department will be coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to provide targeted assistance to nearly 5,000 tourism workers who are experiencing disruptions to their livelihood and income as a result of the storms and suspended tourism activities.
For any concerns or travel-related assistance, the Tourist Assistance Call Center is ready to help on 151-TOUR (8687).
Filipino Brand of Service Excellence Summit & Awards held in Alabang
The Filipino Brand of Service Excellence (FBSE) Summit 2025 took place on 21st July, at Bellevue Hotel, Alabang. It’s theme: “The Power of FBSE: Paving the Way for a Culture-Centered Nation”.
A Recognition and Awarding Program was held during the summit, honoring people, institutions, and partners who have been a driving force in implementing and expanding the reach of the country’s flagship Service Excellence training program.
Awards Included:
- Enterprise Award – for companies that trained at least 90% of their workforce
- Government Partner Award – LGU’s that institutionalized FBSE in their communities
- Partner Award – Institutions that significantly supported implementation
- Academe Partner Award – Schools integrating FBSE into training programs
- Pasasalamat Award for Master and Regional Trainers
The FBSE Advocate Award went to Davao (Region 11) for training the most people in 2024. A total of 11,234 people undertook FBSE training in the region.
The Filipino Brand of Service Excellence (FBSE) program was launched in February 2023 and has already trained 322,822 Tourism workers across the country.
It aims to instill the unique traits and values that define exceptional Filipino hospitality among the industry’s workforce, focusing on the “7 M’s”
- Maka-Diyos (Faith in the Almighty),
- Maka-Tao (Respect and Humanity),
- Makakalikasan (Environmental Awareness),
- Makabansa (Patriotism),
- Masayahin (Cheerfulness),
- May Bayanihan (Community Spirit), and
- May Pag-asa (Hopefulness).
PHOA Announces Manpower Roadmap to curb Hospitality Labor Shortages
The Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) Executive Director, Benito Bengzon Jr announced PHOA’s intention to undertake a Hospitality Manpower Roadmap. The announcement was made at a media launch, ahead of the Philippine Hotel Connect 2025 Summit held in Manila this week (24 & 25 July).
PHOA’s Philippine Hotel Industry Human Capital Development Plan will identify current labor shortages, along with projected labour shortages as employees and graduates move abroad for employment opportunities. It aims to determine the future workforce needs of an expanding hospitality industry.
An earlier 2024 PHOA report highlighted 158 new hotel and accommodation projects which are expected to complete their development over the next few years. And these new accommodations alone will require more than 55,000 employees.
Bojo River – Cebu, named as a premier ecotourism model.
Bojo River in Aloguinsan, Cebu has been recognised for a third time in the top 100 list of sustainable destinations and ecotourism models, by the East Asia Tourism Forum (EATOF).
Managed by the Bojo Aloguinsan Ecotourism Association (Baetas), the Bogo River Cruise has received a number of awards for sustainable practices, eco and community-based tourism.
The announcement was made during the 23rd East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Federation (EATOF) Standing Committee Meeting, which took place 21-23 July, in Cebu. The Forum’s discussion points included resiliency, tourism trends, best practice, and tourism workforce development.
Cebu is set to host the biennial EATOF General Assembly in 2026.
Global Tourism & Hospitality Industry News Update
18 Filipino Crewmen Arrested & Deported from America
18 Filipino crew members have been arrested, removed from the cruise ship, Carnival Sunshine, and deported by The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in Virginia, America. They also face a 10-year ban from re-entering the U.S.
Reports suggest that they were arrested for allegedly
- Watching child pornography on their phones or laptops,
- Having criminal records, and
- Not having work visa’s.
The Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) and the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) issued a joint statement confirming that the crewmen all held valid Work Visa’s, and had undergone full criminal record background checks prior to being deployed.
Marino Ph is tracking and sharing the stories of several of the crew members. All have described similar experiences – being visited by Customs and Border Protection and told of the allegations. They then had their paperwork, rooms, belongings and phones checked, before being declared cleared of the allegations. When their ship arrived back in the same port a week later, the same CBP boarded again, listed the same allegations, and the crewmen were immediately arrested and removed from the ship in handcuffs.
The crewmen deny all charges and point out that no evidence was found to corroborate any of the charges at the time of their arrest or since. One has already received access to his file, after requesting it using the Freedom Of Information Act. Whilst – for legal reasons – he has not disclosed exactly what has been recorded in his file, he has said he is shocked by its contents and the claims made against him.
The PWC and NaFFAA report that other cruise lines including Viking and Pearl Seas Cruises, have experienced similar incidents.
Barcelona Reduces Number of Cruise Ship Visits
Barcelona, Spain has announced plans to cut the number of cruise passengers arriving at its ports, in response to over-tourism in the city. This will be managed by reducing the number of cruise ship docks, and traveler capacity.
Barcelona’s Tourism Observatory recorded 3.65million visitors arriving in Barcelona via cruise ships in 2024.
The Spanish government is currently placing a firm watch on its tourism industry, in response to escalating protests from the public about the impacts of over-tourism on its cities and islands, and on housing availability.
We’ve previously reported, in earlier Industry News Updates, on Spain’s crackdown on unlicensed Airbnb properties, which will see 65,000 listings removed from the platform. As well as the country’s run-ins with a globally-known Online Travel Agency (OTA).
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