Bohol, Boracay named among top 10 destinations for kids in Asia

The province of Bohol and the island of Boracay had been included in the top 10 best destinations for kids in Asia.

The web site Poor Travellers said Bohol province ranked fifth, and the island of Boracay was at sixth.

The web site, however, cautions tourists coming to both Bohol and Boracay with kids to coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to ensure the welfare of the children.

The first in the lists was Tokyo, Japan, because of both its Disneyland and Disney Sea destination; followed by Hong Kong, which also has its own version of Disneyland. The third was Seoul, South Korea, and the fourth was Singapore for their Universal Studio.

The fifth was Bohol because of its tarsier.  It was followed by Boracay which features its white, beach and other water-sports activities.

The seventh was Osaka and Kyoto in Japan. No. 8 was Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; ninth was Bali, Indonesia; and tenth was Johor Baru, Malaysia.

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Boracay waitpersons join beachfront race

Some 30 waiters and waitresses working in various restaurants in this world-famous island joined the second Waiters’ Race.

The race – initiated by the Italian Food Specialist, Inc. – was held on Oct. 21, organizer Jorge Billedo said.

Participants were made to walk the 1.5-kilometer beachfront while holding a glass of red wine.

Whoever finishes first with the least amount of wine spillage wins.

The wind and some tourists blocking the way challenged the participants, said Italian Chef Massimo Lamagne.

“The race aims to recognize the efficiency and resiliency of our Pinoy waiters here in Boracay,” Billedo said./

Filipina-British 'Bond girl' to promote PH as fun destination

A British-Filipina actress and writer is in the country to promote several tourism sights as fun destinations.

Rachel Louise Grant de Longueuil, or simply Rachel Grant, said she will be documenting at least seven stories to boost the Philippine tourism industry.

Grant is known as a James Bond Girl in the 2002 movie, “Die Another Day,” with British actor Pierce Brosnan and US actress Halle Berry. She also appeared as Maria Ronson in the film “Until Death” with Belgian martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme.

"I am a Filipina and I love the Philippines. Abroad, there are reports on the killings in the Philippines because of drugs. I would like to counter it by producing a documentary that will promote the country as a fun destination. It’s more fun in the Philippines," she said.

She also bared to have already eaten “balut” (duck embryo) a thousand times in her lifetime since it is among her favorite Filipino delicacy.

In Boracay, Grant visited Maya Restaurant which features a version of the Boodle Fight, the Boracay Toilet, Boracay Mermaid and the Ati village, among others.

The actress is here with her parents and Puerto Rican videographer.

She will also be visiting Metro Manila and the provinces of Antique and Pangasinan, as part of her Philippine travel producing viral videos. (

Hollywood actress to visit Boracay Aeta community

Hollywood actress and travel blogger Rachel Grant is expected to visit the Aeta community in this word-famous island.

Raffy Cooper, marketing officer of the Boracay Foundation, Inc., said Grant’s visit will be on Oct. 23 to 24.

“Her itinerary includes a visit with the Aeta community here. She will also document a boodle fight restaurant for her travel video blog,” Cooper said.

Grant played the character of Peaceful Fountains of Desire in a James Bond movie Die Another Day in 2002.

She was born in the Philippines and was raised in Nottingham, United Kingdom.

In 2014, Grant built a school in Bani, Pangasinan for children whose families were affected by typhoons.

She also helps in her mother Isabel Padua-Grant’s charity foundation – The Padua Charitable Fund – and volunteered to help supertyphoon “Yolanda” victims in Tacloban.

Artificial intelligence topic in BPO forum

The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) is studying the possible effects of artificial intelligence (AI) among business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in the country.

The use of AI in BPO companies had been the topic in the Contact Islands conference at the Shangri-la Resort and Spa in this world-famous island.

Over 200 participants composed mostly of industry leaders attended the conference with a theme, “The Future of Customer Experience.”

“We are looking at two sides here: the positive and negative ways of using AI,” CCAP chairman Benedict Hernandez said.

Hernandez also said BPO company leaders must be ready to embrace the opportunities that the use of AI may bring to the Philippine BPO scene.

The Philippines is considered one of the key BPO hubs in the world.

For his part, Engelbert Camasura, president of the Asia Select Philippines, said the use of AI may also affect the media industry.

“The media must be vigilant on this matter. The AI process is still evolving and we must all be ready to embrace change. But we must also consider looking for alternatives,” Camasura said.

CCAP is a group of BPO companies in the country.

Everest Group: PH posed to shape future of global center industry

The Philippines has en edge in being the "location of choice" by outsourcing clients as the global contact center industry transforms from an arbitrage-first to an experience-first model. This is the highlight of the white paper entitled "Philippines at the Helm of Delivering Costumer Experience of the Future" presented by global consulting and research firm Everest Group during the Contact Islands conference held at Shangri-Las Boracay Resort and Spa, Boracay Island.

"The Philippines has a unique opportunity  to not just adapt but to innovate and influence the change," said Everest Group Global Sourcing Partner H. Karthhik who presented the study on Day 1 of the two-day conference organized by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP)." This will propel the Philippines to be at the helm of shaping future costumer experience."

The study underlined that while technology innovation will play a key role in upholding costumer experience, high-skilled agents will remain as the key for delivering required services.

"The contact center industry in the Philippines is rapidly evolving to meet the requirements of costumer experience delivery and will continue to have a strong  leading value preposition," Kathnik asserted. "Costumer experience will continue to be heavily dependent on high-quality talent with high-empathy skills, and the Philippines the leading provider of such talent."

He also emphasized the advantage brought about by the fact that the country has among the world's youngest  population (with median age of 23 years). "It forms the perfect bedrock for serving the millenial costumers," he said.

The analysis by Everest Group pointed out that local contact centers have already  started upgrading its capabilities to meet the changing requirements in the global industry environment. The study identified these current conditions of Philippine-based contact centers.

*Up to a third of the agents in best-in-class centers have already been trained to acquire multi-channel expertise.
*Robotic process automation (RPA) solutions are starting to be implemented like rule-based chatbots for simple business processes and costumer queries.
*Focus and investment on analytics for costumer experience delivery is growing although analytics for operational excellence still has the higher adaption.
*Companies are actively redesigning their recruitment and training approaches to increase focus on multi-national channel capabilities and technical skills.

Despite its strong position in adapting and instituting skills-upgrade of its agents, the country's contact center industry still needs to further strengthen its capabilities  to "shape the global future" of contact center services, according to Everest Group.