Lim’s exit brings relief

A day after he declined to comment on calls for him to resign, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim announced that he would quit his post effective Aug. 21 for “personal reasons,” a decision that came as a surprise but was not unexpected.

The lackluster performance of Lim and his almost chilly relations with many private sector tourism groups since his appointment in July 2010 drew a trajectory that meant it was a just a matter of time before the former Makati Business Club executive would have to make a strategic retreat to avoid seriously hobbling President Aquino, especially after the major embarrassment of a new “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” logo that was deflated as a copycat.

The surprise was the timing.

With over 200 delegates in town for an international conference hosted by the Philippines for the hottest sector of tourism—MICE or the meetings incentive, conference and events market—we looked forward to an inspiring liftoff.

Cebu, with its 1.6 million visitors a year and advantages of an international airport, direct foreign flights, and international-brand hotels in both Mactan Island and city settings, stands as a prime beneficiary.

Instead, the Tourism Secretary is heading for the exit. That won’t impress foreign tourism executives attending the Aug. 12-15 conference to check out and hopefully endorse the tropical islands of the Philippines as a destination for the lucrative MICE market.

What they see is a loss of leadership, even abandonment, during a peak opportunity of promotion.

But it has been a disconnected leadership in the Department of Tourism for a year now.

Lim had delayed making allies with, then he actually alienated, many tourism executives by ignoring the mandate of the Tourism Congress as a legislated body that would give private sector representatives a clearer voice in framing tourism policies.

DOT consultants and private sector representatives were fired by the batch without much ado. Senior staffers waiting to give their input were told, “No, thank you.” Work on a tourism master plan was set aside in favor of a new bunch of experts.

After a stellar, almost-charismatic tour of duty by Cebu’s Ace Durano as Tourism Secretary, who made marketing the Philippines in untapped arenas of Asia and Europe a “Wow” performance, and supported the rise of new domestic stars like Camarines Sur, the contrast was enough to make you weep.

Outsiders unfamiliar with the inner turmoil of the tourism industry didn’t see how Philippine tour operators and establishment owners were quietly biting their lips over the loss of momentum.

It is the hospitality industry, after all. Hanging dirty laundry is not part of its culture.

However, a few industry veterans, like Robert Lim Joseph of NAITAS, could not be silenced. He railed against the broken trust in leadership, the Secretary’s lack of industry background, the limbo of demoralized operators, and the dangers of an “open sky policy” that has foreign airlines entering barrier-free to bring out more Filipino tourists than bringing in foreign visitors.

His repeated message: Alberto Lim has to go.Joseph had the fortuitous timing of calling again for the Cabinet member’s resignation in a press conference on Wednesday in Cebu.

With the Tourism Secretary scheduled to give a keynote greeting at the MICE conference the next day, that was a presumptuous call to action. In the end, it was a fitting reminder that leaders who can’t galvanize an already-vibrant industry have to step aside.

To his credit, Lim wasn’t linked to any corruption cases. He just couldn’t shrug off the perception that he was, in the language of Senators Joker Arroyo and Miriam Santiago, a lightweight in the President’s inner circle.

With Lim’s resignation at the end of the month, the tourism industry can at last heave a sigh of relief.

What’s next? Don’t be surprised to hear a big encore for Ace Durano.