V3I6P113

Tides of Change: How Hospitality Education Turned Coastal Residents into Tourism Human Resources in Leyte, Philippines

Evangeline V. Sanchez^1*

Abstract

This phenomenological study assessed post-training outcomes of a community–university extension project between Leyte Normal University (LNU) Tourism, Hotel, and Restaurant Management (THRM) Department and coastal residents of Sabang Dagat, Dulag, Leyte, Philippines. Twenty local women with no prior industry experience were trained as staff  of Camp Surf, a ten-room community-owned beach resort developed through the ABS-CBN Foundation’s corporate social responsibility initiative. Using NVivo-patterned thematic coding on in-depth interviews with fourteen purposively selected participants, four themes emerged: (1) Experiential Learning Validation, (2) Competency Acquisition across core hospitality departments, (3) Aspirational Capacity Building, and (4) Livelihood Transformation. Findings affirm the transformative potential of community-based tourism training (CBTT) in contexts of educational deprivation and extend theory in empowerment, human resource development, and sustainable tourism management. Recommendations are forwarded to LNU, LGU Dulag, and TESDA.

Keywords:

Community-based tourism training, post-training assessment, empowerment, phenomenological research, NVivo thematic coding, tourism, human resources  hospitality education, Philippines