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(Singapore) --- April 1999 - Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts
continues to earn great praise for the company's contributions to
the education and training of youth and for their commitment to preserving
the future of hospitality in several under-resourced countries.
Due to her role in the development and implementation of Pan Pacific's successful Youth Career Development Program, Corporate Director of Education Lyndall de Marco has been asked to join the Travel & Tourism business and industry delegation to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in New York during the April 19-21 discussion of the issues surrounding the travel and tourism industry. Coordinated by the International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), this year will mark the first dialog on travel and tourism since the inception of UNCSD seven years ago. Lyndall is one of only 25 participating industry leaders from around the world and Pan Pacific's Youth Career Development Program will be featured as an example of a practical industry initiative during these discussions. In cooperation with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Pan Pacific
launched the Youth Career Development Program (YCDP) in 1995 in Thailand
and has since expanded the program to Pan Pacific hotels in Bangladesh,
Manila, and Jakarta.
Dr. Kitiya Phornsadja, the UNICEF Project Officer for Children in
Especially Difficult Circumstances, explains that the YCDP is not an end
in itself but instead a window of opportunity for children at risk
to explore their options. She comments, "Career development, a component
of integrated intervention programs to eliminate the deprivation
of development rights and exploitation of children, increases the
ability of youth to earn real income
The inspiration for this innovative educational and vocational training program came from Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts' President Ichigo (Ishee) Umehara who states, "One of our corporate core values is to seek enrichment of mankind and to make a difference to the lives of people. To this end, a community program should always go hand in hand with the establishment of each new Pan Pacific hotel." The joint program with UNICEF started in Thailand four years ago with
10 young women and has since grown to impacting over 200 disadvantaged
youth.
In Manila, children from the outer islands of the Philippines were brought into the city six months ago by UNICEF who provided housing and an allowance whilst The Pan Pacific Manila provided education and hospitality skills. A program will soon be launched at The Sari Pan Pacific Jakarta which will provide orphan teenagers, left on their own at the age of 17, with education and training in housekeeping skills to enable them to find future jobs in private homes as houseboys, maids, and drivers. Each of the programs at the various hotels are actually monitored (or taught) by hotel executives who act as "teachers" in all career placement and education activities. Umehara states, "The purpose of these programs is not to provide money
nor charity, rather it is to provide an education to the underprivileged,
to equip them with skills which will allow them to get jobs, and
to make a better future for themselves and their families."
He continues, "I feel very proud that we are able to make this contribution
to the community and we will be looking at other opportunities in
other destinations where we have hotels to organize similar projects."
Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts currently encompasses 22 hotels (19 managed properties, 2 marketing affiliates, and 1 hotel under development) in 12 countries in Asia, the Pacific and North America. You can access Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts on the Internet at www.panpac.com |
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