Manila :
With the theme “Blooming at 2”, the Hospitality and Wellness Industries Furnishers and Services Providers Association (HW Pilipinas) is upbeat about the prospects of the industry in 2012 citing the strong business confidence in the country.
HW Pilipinas, composed of players in hospitality and wellness such as personal care, furniture, furnishings, interior design, architecture and other related services, recently celebrated its second year anniversary with optimism.
In her report during the event, Dr. Rashmi Tolentino Singh, HW Pilipinas president, noted that hospitality and wellness were industries that stood out in 2011.
“All we have to do is put our acts together,” she said.
HW Pilipinas was founded for the association to serve as the one-stop shop for the growing hospitality and wellness industries.
Singh was among the first businessmen to submit a list of projects that can possibly avail of promotion funds through the Export Development Council. The Council started to line up projects aligned with the Philippine Export Development Plan for funding. These projects are expected to create immediate positive impact.
Aside from modest funding assistance for advocacy, marketing and promotion capacity building through the industry associations, Philippine Export Confederation (Philexport) also provided enterprise-level services to their members’ needs, President Sergio Ortiz Luis, Jr. said.
Consistent with the Department of Industry’s earlier statements, Ortiz-Luis noted that the non-electronics sector is now improving. This is considering that the decline in total exports was minimal compared with the 34.5 percent drop year-on-year in electronic exports. Products covered by the association’s sector like coconut and by-products, fruits and vegetables are doing well globally.
“As we aim to carve a niche in the export market, it is important to note that the world market for your sector [hospitality and wellness] was estimated to be worth at least US$ 100 billion for bulk ingredients and US trillion for natural products, both food and non-food,“ Ortiz-Luis said.
Ortiz-Luis also added that there are encouraging signals coming from consumers. He said that people are getting conscious of their well-being now regardless of class. Aside from going to the salons or spas, people also take food supplements.
With the new tourism slogan, ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines,” he said saying he was positive that the 10 million tourist target this year can be achieved.
“This spells huge opportunities for medical tourism and health and wellness sector in terms of sales and exposure of products and services,” Ortiz-Luis said.
While 2012 is a challenging year, social and environmental concerns are still a primary concern for the structural design industry vis-à-vis revenues as noted in the best practice mentioned by Architect Felino Palafox Jr during the occasion.
“We give up 30% of potential clients. Last year, I gave up US$ 1 million architect fee [for a project] in Subic because our client wants to destroy 366 trees. The 366 trees that we protected in Subic are worth more than the US$ 1 million I gave up in architect’s fee.”
He said that a 50-year old tree is worth P9 million in replacement cost – the oxygen it provided, fertilizer it shed on earth, water it held, and the beauty it gave to the environment.
Congressman Teodoro A. Casiño also expressed support in addressing the hospitality and wellness industries’ concerns and possible areas of legislation. (PNA)
RMA/bac/utb
source: http://www.ZamboTimes.com / Friday, February 03rd, 2012
