Good day and welcome to Issues and Answers, a production of the Government Information Service. I'm your host, Jacques Kingston Compton. With me today is Director of Sports, Mr. Patrick Mathred, as Director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports. And he's going to talk to us a little bit about the role and the purpose of the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports. I know it's something that a lot of people may not necessarily understand, but we're gonna give them a more clear-cut view. So welcome to the program. Thank you very much and good morning to everyone listening to the program. Thank you for having me, first of all. And I must say that that's really a very significant question because we've been asked all the time what exactly we do as a Ministry of Sports. But one would clearly understand that first of all, that you are a government institution and therefore there's a number of bureaucracies that you have to adhere to in terms of what it is. But our raison d'et, so to speak, is really about youth and sports development. But from the spotting standpoint, we are a government ministry to provide a level of oversight over sports in St. Lucia. That is the National Sporting Associations, the what's happened in the community in terms of community sports and some other programs. But once it's sports, then the Ministry has a role to play and our role is largely that of oversight. Though sometimes what we do, we do more than just oversight, but we do a level of programming because it's necessary in order to provide that level of oversight. And where exactly are you all located at the moment? Currently, we are on Meekwood Street, number 55 Meekwood Street, saying that means nothing to a lot of people. We have to continue and say we're opposite access and on top of Huntington. And then people will know exactly where the offices are. We've moved there, we've been there for the last three years, previous to that. We have been to, we were at the Blue Coral Mall. Previous to that, we had the Bossage Stadium for a little while. Previous to that, we were. So we have moved the number of locations and maybe that's one of the things that I would like to see that the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports have a stable home, but currently we're number five Meekwood Street, 55, sorry. So your role as director, could you talk a little bit about it? Well, sure. The director of sports, some people say to me sometimes it's a lot. I don't believe it is a lot from the standpoint that yes, there are a lot of routine things that you do from a day-to-day basis. But generally as the director of sports, what we really do is to supervise and as I indicated earlier, provide oversight on a number of things. You have a number of employees who work within the Ministry. They refer to us as youth and sports officers and I have direct oversight over them. Then you have coaches. We do have a number of coaches within the Ministry. And then on a daily basis, then you have to interface with a number of sporting associations. Few people know that we have 25 national associations operating in St. Lucia. And so you have to interface with them on a daily basis. And of course, you have the St. Lucia Olympic Committee and you have other partners within the corporate sector that you deal with. Part of what I do generally, apart from that day-to-day supervision, there is always policy pronouncements as from the government of the day and which you as the director of sports would have to action. And I could speak clearly of one that we're working on now. We basically are at the stage of the first draft, which is the Facilities Management and Maintenance Policy. I had direct oversight of that. We had a small committee. We're basically in the stage of the first draft. And so that is some of the other things that you're doing. Of course, as anything else, because of government bureaucracy, there are things that you have to do in accordance with the Finance Act, the Procurement and Stores Act. And so you really, there's never a dead moment, so to speak. So I don't think unless I decide to sit and do nothing that there is a moment where I do nothing. Could you expand a little bit on the policy you spoke earlier? Okay, in terms of the policy, what we have found over the years is that there's been a lot of uncertainty as to where do we go in terms of Facilities Management and Maintenance. And one would appreciate that if you're doing sports, one of the key aspects of sports is the facilities that you use. And if those facilities are not in the top ship, then it means that it will affect the athletes and the users. And so the ministry is, although we would have had a policy, a very simple one, what we have done is to upgrade the policy to have a more, I don't say a complex policy, but a more comprehensive policy in ensuring that what we do is to look at the entire sporting facilities that we have in Senucia. I could just say to you quickly that although the policy is not out yet, but what we would have done is to put them into tales. So we have policies, facilities at the A, B, C and D level. And then we program in that particular level. So each of them comes with their own nuances and each of them would, of course, would have a different level of maintenance. And so very soon you would have the pronouncements from the minister. Of course, I don't want to steal his thunder in terms of the policy being unrolled. But we are at the point where we basically have the first draft. We're going to discuss it with persons, but I just say that the intention is by the end of December, we're going to next year that we'll have a solid policy on plane facilities, maintenance and management. Okay, now you also mentioned that you have coaches on staff. So I have a couple of questions are just related to that. For you to be a coach in the St. Lucia, do you have to work directly with the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports? No, no. Coaching generally, we paid a little lip service to coaches before. And so the Ministry had decided maybe about six years ago to start its own. We always had coaches, but we started with, years ago, maybe in the late early 90s, they're about with one cricket coach. And at the time, after it retired, we had moved to another one. So the Ministry then, and under the staff of the Ministry, generally under the public service, we have two coaches and an assistant coach. So we have three coaches directly with the public service. But that was just not enough for us. And so under a program through being funded by the National Lodges Authority, we've employed something like 20 other coaches that we have throughout the island. So we cover the spots of netball, basketball, table tennis. We do football. We've not done too much emphasis on football because the association is well endowed as far as we're concerned. We, as I said, table tennis, volleyball, and of course, netball. And those are the spots that we have coaches in. And what we do is to go out into the communities to try and develop grassroots in terms of ensuring that we have on the ground a whole cadre of young persons and maybe older persons getting involved in sports so that the associations could pick from. And so that is what our coaching program really entails. Of course, like you indicated earlier on that the coaching, the Ministry does not do coaching certification. However, what we do is to work with the various associations to ensure that the coaches are certified in that regard. There are a few generic things that we do. For instance, to work as a coach of the Ministry, you need to do child safe guarding. Now, it doesn't mean that if you're a coach of some level of repute that we will not hire you. But once you are into the Ministry, you must do child safe guarding and protection. And it's something that we put on every so often with our coaches. The other one which is essential is the whole issue of first aid. We call them first responders. Those are two key aspects that we must do. And of course, with our own in-service training, we do fundamentals to coaching to ensure that though you may come in saying that you have the coaching certification, we do our own checks to ensure that we get in what we put out for, that we get that. So it's not that you are responsible for the certification, but there are other bodies. Could you speak a little bit about what it entails for those coaches to become certified? Okay, so for instance, and again, it varies from spot to spot. So for instance, in terms of football, there is the D license, the C license, a B license. And so once these courses are offered, we encourage our coaches to go. In terms of netball, for instance, you have level one, level two, and run by the international federations. We encourage persons in terms of athletics. There are quite a number of levels in athletics. There's a level one, level two, level three at the basic level, but you could also become a jump scotch. You could become a sprint scotch. You could become a forward scotch. So there are other areas what it is. So as fast as possible, we encourage our coaches to go out. As a matter of fact, I want to say to you, cricket, for example, only recently, John Eugene, he did the level three coach. West Indies certified level three coach. However, he's not certified as yet because one would appreciate you do the theoretical aspect. And this is the thing about it. It will take him nine months in terms of his practical session and reporting in order to be certified as a coach. So what we say to them, you're trained at level three, but you're not certified. And in every instance, there is a practical component for coaching. Unless you do not practice or participate and pass that practical component, then you will not be certified. You may be trained. And of course, there's other things that you could do. But the certification always take a time because of the practical component. Okay, that's a lot to take in. But we're due for our first break. Stay with us. You're watching Issues and Answers. We'll be back in a moment. It's buzzing from the ninth to December 10th, 2021. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Castries Town Hall, he won or a national honey show under the distinguished patronage of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Rural Development, Honorable Alfred Prosper. The national honey show categories are honey in a jar, beeswax, baking with honey, art, and photography, and the Best in Show Challenge Cup. The head judge is Sue Carter from the London Honey Show. This event is sponsored by Ionola Apiculture Collective, Caribbean Youth Environmental Network, Ministry of Agriculture, GEF, SGP, UNDP, SLHTA, and CCC. For more info, call 452- for 900- or 717- 000. This is an activity of the GEF, SGP, UNDP. See you there. Welcome back to Issues and Answers. I'm your host, Jacques Kingston Compton, and we're here with Director of Sports of the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, Mr Patrick Mathere. We're talking about his role and the role of the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports on the island. Now, the sports sector in a small island developing country as our own, you must have a lot of challenges in the sports sector. I mean, could you tell us a little bit about what you have to deal with? You're very correct, because the resources are a few and I dare say that people sometimes say, but you all get money from 3D association, you all get government money, what do you do with it? Your resources are still few, because what you want to do, you may never have enough resources to do. So what it really is, you have to perform that juggling act to ensure that whatever resources that you have, you maximize them. And generally, what we would do with what we do is a lot of training, a lot of training and a lot of involvement of persons on the community level. What we try to do as much as possible within the communities is to encourage persons to volunteer. Very, very slowly, we get a lot of pushback because persons nowadays almost say to you that what's in it for me? What am I doing? And they don't see, they see money as the only reward. And there are so many things because sometimes we laugh in the ministry and we joke and we call, we talk about paid voluntarism. And so we know that that sometimes may be a difficult thing, but that's the only way that we could use our limited resources to go out into the communities, get persons involved and have them do so. So our coaches would take the lead, but to get persons involved so all the time we could have a flow of persons. And hopefully they might get the coach and maybe leave the country and get an economic return from what they're doing. Is it, do you find it very difficult to encourage persons to volunteer? It is becoming increasingly so because persons do not see the value of voluntarism from the standpoint of a fulfillment. They see it as the tangible rewards. I don't look at the intangible rewards. And even the whole issue and I suppose when my fellow colleague comes and speaks about youth, we'll speak about ways in which we're trying to encourage persons for apprenticeship programs to maybe, when I volunteered, I was happy with just getting a little trip to go somewhere. Nowadays, when you give them the trip, then they say why is this typing to go with the trip?  So I mean, because of how the economy has come and how persons start to think now, it's more difficult, but it is possible. It is possible. You could always encourage persons because at the end of the day, it brings the benefit to them to see other persons come out and develop in ways which they never expected. Right. So if, let's say I want to volunteer, who would I contact at your ministry? Normally, if that is the case, you could go through any one of the coaches that we have in the ministry, but you could also go through the number of youth and sports officers because we've divided the island on each area, well, not each area, but sections of the island of youth and sports officers because under sports, for instance, we have four youth officers spread throughout the island. You could have that discussion with them. You can come to the ministry. There are persons in the ministry not enough as to where or what is it that we do and could point you in that direction. So it's not something that is difficult. You come, you have that discussion first and we point you in the direction in terms of what is that you want. We want to also encourage persons, especially on a weekend, to bring the young persons out and to encourage parents to get involved in the lives of their children and the young people. You mentioned the youth officers, Elia. What exactly is their role? Okay, right now in the ministry, we have youth and sports officers and those are people on the field. Those are the people who are out there, who interface with the community and us. It's sometimes, it's a difficult task because monitoring of them could be difficult because one would appreciate that they do not work eight to four. They work right through. I was a youth and sports officer and the areas are large because there are few of us and take for example, one officer is responsible for grossly and Babylon. I mean, you could imagine the number of facilities and the number of persons. Yeah, I can imagine. So it is really a challenge for them but I must say that they do what they can within the limited resources we have. We're hoping that if we get at least eight more of those officers, then it will become even better for us but they actually go out and they do so and you see them out in the field getting it. It can be frustrating at times but my role as the director is to encourage them along because I understand exactly what they're going through because I used to be there myself. Yeah, because that's two very large constituencies. You just mentioned that grossly and Babylon. That's a lot. I'll tell you, another officer is responsible for ancillary canneries and Rosa Valley. That's what we did, that's what we did. So you do need more staff, I would say. Yes, definitely. But we also kind of briefly just touched on lack of resources in terms of money. Now, when you also find it difficult when you have to send, well, I don't know if your ministry is responsible for this but when we're sending athletes abroad, especially with Olympics, is that difficult? Are there a lot of challenges there? Is it a case of where it's difficult to raise money for those athletes? Let's say for LeVon Vardat. I think that you correct up to the point that it's always difficult to get the corporate sector involved. They do come forward, I must say. And we have a very good corporate sector, despite what people think. I think we have a very generous corporate sector, very extremely generous. But things like Olympics, they're different because for instance, the average persons would not know that the way that it operates with the Olympic Committee, and we do have the Central Olympic Committee Incorporated who would handle the Olympics. What happens is that they're qualifying standard set by the international federations. Once you would have met these international standards, it's almost like an automatic qualifier. But what happens is that you as the association who have those athletes, at a particular point you have to give your athlete a cross to the Central Olympic Committee. So the Olympic Committee takes over all the preparation for this committee. So once you made the standard, then they will take over. And everything is taken care of by the Central Olympic Committee, by the International Olympic Committee. So that one is an easy one. However, when you have other struggling associations, and I'll give you an example. The St. Lucia Rugby Association, who over the years have been making great strides in producing rugby, and you see the progress, especially for our female. They are in the process and the desires of taking part in what we call a seventh tournament. It is run, run seven. Now run is stands for Rugby's America's North, which is the parental body. There is an upcoming tournament, male and female in Mexico, sevens they have to bring in there. And when they put the budget together for that tournament, it's costing them over $200,000. Now I am saying the ministry does not have 200,000 dollars to give. The country and as we speak of... Especially not for just one spot. Exactly. But they determined to go. They determined to go. They have started fundraising. They have going. Of course the ministry would help because we normally deal through the National Lottery's Authority. We do that type of assistance, but it's a big ask, but they determined. And that is just one example of what you have to do all the time. Okay, we're actually due for our final break and after that we'll get to our final segment. You're watching Issues and Answers, a production of the Government Information Service. Please stay tuned. We'll be back in a moment. What's in the food you're eating? Do you really even... The chemicals and hormones used to accelerate their growth. All the artificial flavoring. Sweeteners and colors too. We consume and we don't spare a thought for the damage that they'll do. No. Think about the children. Think about the children. How will we save it? Alts and GMOs are not the solution. Use organic and join. Excessive agrochemical use. Additives and genetically modified foods are harmful to health and the environment. Join the Good Food Revolution. Grow, buy and consume organic. A message from Rye St. Lucia and the Ministry of Sustainable Development with funding from the GEF Small Grants Program, UNDP. The Good Food... Welcome back. This is Issues and Answers, a production of the Government Information Service. And we're here with Director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, Mr. Patrick Mathura. And we're talking about the sports sector and his ministry's role in St. Lucia and the government. So, yes, we were talking a little bit about the rugby sector before in the sports sector. Now, while we were off air, you mentioned a little bit about our involvement in eSports. Let's talk about that because I find that very interesting. Well, eSports, as anything else, is a new sport. And when, years ago, we were struggling because this gentleman who's Franklin Vardes, I say who's the pioneer in pushing that came to us, those things were very skeptical because they saw eSports as, boy, you're playing video games, you understand? And they saw that as bringing us nowhere. I'm saying this has gone big. There's an international federation. There's a whole federation of eSports. It was introduced into the Olympic Games for the first time in the last edition. And so, it's very big for us. And we see that as another way, especially during the fact that COVIDs, you could stay at your home and play, get terminals. We think that's a very good alternative in terms of sport. Of course, as a ministry of sports, we'll never discount the fact that physical activity is what we want. So, yes, there's a level of physical activity involved in eSports, but not as much. But we do encourage, as a matter of fact, we do have a representative we'll be going out sometime in December. I think something to the 90th of December, there's a World Federation. World eSport Federation is an international tournament happening in Singapore. And we do have a representative who will be going out there. It's quite a tidism. You need to spend at least $20,000 for you to get to Singapore plus the COVID tests and all of to go out there. And we believe that our representative will do very good. And I think that's the second opportunity because previously there was a World Federation just before Olympic Games for the qualifiers. Unfortunately, we had a weather system. And so, the internet was giving problems. And on the day in question, he could not do it. And so, he was eliminated on that basis alone. So, as much as it's something that you could get involved easily, it could be easily put off. And I tell you, the gentleman was devastated. And so, that's just our way of showing, look, we can go far with this thing.  OK. eSports, generally, you have a number of games that you do. Some of them that you see the game playing all the time on the Xbox and the other devices, that has become big. So, players compete amongst themselves. So, for instance, the FIFA one is a very big one. You have the Dragon Ball Z, you have those other spots that you see them as simple video games have taken on a life of their own. And people around the world get involved in them. And they have massive tournaments. One could look up eSports on the net, and you would see recently there's a massive stadium that was built to accommodate 50,000 persons for eSports. So, the terminals are there, and it's a big arena. Massive, massive. So, this isn't going to do further research on it. I wish I had more time to explain more about eSports, but do some reading. eSports is the up-and-coming spot for us. And perhaps we'll have you come back again just to speak about eSports on its own. But that really leads me to my next set of questions. I imagine eSports is very helpful in terms of the era of the COVID. So, I mean, tell us a little bit about how COVID has affected the sports sector and what the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports is doing to address those effects. I want to be biased here by first saying that I believe that the sports sector would have had this heat for COVID. Persons would disagree, but I'm a sportsman and I will go down there. No, I agree with you, actually. I'm sure it is high up there. And what we would have done was to encourage persons to do a lot of soul-seeking. As a ministry, what we did, we used the time, the long time for us to do a lot of policy, to review a lot of our policy and so on. And then what we do was to encourage our coaches, especially because they were getting frustrated, to put together a lot of coaching videos. So we have a lot of coaching videos out there. And when we got permission to go out one on one and two, we encourage them to do videos.  What it has done for us now is to expose and open another area, which I think that we, not that we're not ready, but we are not trained enough to do, which is looking and assessing in terms of video. This is very, very, very big in the world. And I think that we have this opportunity now for coaches to look at videos and to do that type of analysis, video analysis, which has not been done before. And speaking of which, one of the, as we speak, there's another spot which we are heavily investing. The association has just been informed is something called TechBall. TechBall? TechBall. And it's a world spot, it's very big. As a matter of fact, we're thinking of sending and representing to the TechBall conference that's gonna happen in Poland sometime in December. It's actually a cross between table tennis and football. So you have like a tennis ball, a tennis board. It's a curve type of board. And then you use your foot to go over the net on that ball. It's a, let me tell you, another one that's growing big. And a lot of the club, the major clubs use it as a warm-up game, but it stands, it's a stand-up on its own. It's very, very big in Asia. That's another one that persons could look at. TechBall, T-E-Q, is T-E-Q-A, T-A-Q-I ball, TechBall. And so that's another one that's massive, massive. And we have athletes that are trading for that now, or it's something you are trying to... Well, we have just formed the association. So we have gone further from the association. You have persons now who are being trained to teach TechBall. Of course, we're not as good as the others as yet. And I think that's something in the future because of the hands and skills. Because remember, for us, sports is about muscle memory. And the more you practice, the more you train, the better you become. And so that is what COVID has done for us to force us in that direction to say, look, even if you're at home, if you do it one-on-one by yourself, the memory stays on and it continues. So we're encouraging that type of thing in our world of sports. So in terms of TechBall, how are you going to encourage new persons? I imagine that's challenging, to get new persons into that particular sport. The schools. The schools. This is the beauty of our system and this is the beauty of sports. Once you want a sport to mushroom, you need to go into the schools. Because what you have there, you have a captive audience. You have that captive audience and you have young, impressionable minds. Once you start to train them from then, as I indicated, the whole issue of muscle memory, then they get better. By the time they leave school or they go out in the world, you have some professionals in that type of thing. So the key to sporting development in St. Lucia is the schools. Of course, you have the communities that you cannot discount because they go into the community. But once you get the schools on board, half your business is done. We're very close to the end of our program. But what I want to just have you briefly talk about is maybe the future of the sports sector or the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports or anything else you want to add before we go. Okay, well, thanks for that opportunity. I think that in terms of the sports sector, I think there is huge opportunity. I think as director of sports and I've been in sports for a little while, just over maybe 40 years. And I'm seeing that what we need to do now and I want to coin that term is to professionalize sports. Professionalize it from the standpoint, not for us to decide that we want to pay persons but to professionalize it from the standpoint that we have to take a serious guided approach to sports. We have to look at sports analysis. We have to look at stats in sports and using sports to get what we want. We have to use the technology that we're using. We have to train administrators, train coaches in that manner so that they could go out there and now really and truly revolutionize sports into an industry, which is what it is actually. It has become an industry but we way behind in terms of what I seem to call the sports industrial revolution. And this is what we need to go. If we don't take this thing forward, we need to do so. And maybe, as I speak, maybe the Ministry of Sports might not be able to do it. Maybe the Ministry of Sports will have to look for outside help, maybe the government or some other agency has to set up to take it forward. But in my own mind, my own experience I believe this is the way forward for sports because Jamaica, sports is big. It helps the economy. I think we'll do the same. I believe that if we get it right, forget about bananas, forget about tourism. Sports would be your number one industry. Thank you very much. That's a lot to go on. And I hope maybe, as you say, we can catch up with the rest of the world. Maybe we'll even have our own Usain Bolt at some point. But I hope you can come back again onto a program, maybe even to talk about the emerging sports programs like rugby, tech ball, e-sports, all that sort of thing. But thank you very much for coming on our show and I hope to see you again very soon. Sure, the pleasure is mine. You're watching Issues and Answers, a production of the Government Information Service. I'm your host, Jacques Kingston Compton, and thank you for watching.


Look at the logo and the website of the G20 Presidency unveiled by Mr. Narendra Modi. Also, the theme of the G20 Presidency was said as One Earth, One Family, One Future. See, why is Mr. Narendra Modi doing all this? If you want to know answer for this question, do watch this video continuously. The theme of India's G20 Presidency is Vasudeva Kudumbakam or One Earth, One Family, One Future. As you know, India will assume the presidency of the powerful grouping from the current chair Indonesia on December 1. Knowing about G20 Presidency is very important. So, in this discussion, let us learn some of the facts that you must remember when it comes to G20 Presidency. Before that, remember the group of 20 or G20 is a grouping of the world's 20 largest economies. Here in this image, you can see the members of the grouping. Here you can see that India is a member of the grouping. Am I right? Yes, India is also a founding member of the G20. Now, G20 is very important because its members represent almost 90% of global GDP and 80% of international global trade. And also note that two-thirds of the world's population live in G20 countries. And 84% of all the fossil fuel emissions are produced by this G20 countries only. With this basic information, let us see a few facts about the presidency of the G20. See, the presidency of G20 rotates every year among its members. And a unique thing about G20 presidency is that the country that holds the presidency works together with its predecessor and successor. So, this grouping inside G20 grouping is known as Troika. See, G20 have such arrangement to ensure the continuity of the agenda. Currently, Italy, Indonesia and India are the Troika countries. And on December 1, India will assume the presidency from the current chair in the nation. Remember, the G20 has no permanent secretariat. That is, the agenda and the working coordination is completed by G20 leaders, personal representatives known as Sherpas. And they together work with the finance ministers and the central bank governors to complete the works. So, being president of G20, India will have the opportunity to assume center stage in proposing and setting the global agenda and discourse. Secondly, since G20 represents more than 80% of the world's GDP, India can play a strategic role in securing global economic growth and prosperity. Thirdly, G20 will be the platform to test India's leadership potential and diplomatic foresight in organizing such a big event and in arriving at meaningful outcomes. And through this video, you understood what is this G20 and why this G20 in use and why Mr. Narendra Modi gave a theme and a logo for this G20 presidency. Because India is taking over the presidency of G20 this time on December 1. And if you want to know more such topics related to UPSC preparation, do watch our Hindi newspaper analysis regularly.


This paper examines the current state of focus group sampling in health-related journals. It found that many papers lack sufficient reporting of sample sizes, and that the number of focus groups can vary widely. Some papers attempt to explain their choice of sample size, but most do not follow the principles of data saturation or grounded theory. Additionally, some papers appear to ignore these principles by selecting two larger sample size. This paper suggests that journals should require more rigorous reporting of focus group sampling, and that further research is needed to develop better guidelines for choosing appropriate sample sizes. This article was authored by Glenn Tunkler and Carlson Benedict.


In this video, the female pelvic lymphatics will be demonstrated. Throughout this video, cranial word is to the left. To enter the peritoneal cavity, we will open the anterior abdominal wall and peritoneum. The connective tissue sheet behind the ascending colon and transverse colon was stripped, and then the colon was reflected to the left. The connective tissue behind the duodenum was cleared away. The right kidney, surrounded by the renal fascia, comes into view. Hidden within the renal fascia is the ureter and the ovarian vessels. Tracing along the ureter, we find that the renal fascia is divided into the ovarian vessel sheath and the fascia which surrounds the ureter. Outside these fasciae lies the umbilical vesicle fascia. Reflecting the external iliac artery and obturator nerve to the left, we see the iliac fascia covering the iliosoas muscle. In the right pelvic half showing the iliac vessels, note that the obturator nerve runs within the inter-iliac angle. Before reaching the aortic bifurcation, some lymphatics ascend along the internal iliac artery, but most lymphatics cross this artery to reach the inter-iliac angle. Viewing the pelvis from lateral, after removal of the hip bone, we see the external iliac artery and the obturator nerve. Here we see the inter-iliac nodes. Lymphatics from the lower part of the pelvic organs converge along the obturator nerve and reach the inter-iliac nodes. Returning the external iliac artery to the original position, we see the obturator nerve, artery, and vein. We can see the inter-iliac angle and the large nodes situated between the external and internal iliac arteries. These nodes receive lymphatics from the lower extremity along the external iliac artery and also the lymphatics from the pelvic and internal organs. Thus, these nodes are very significant. You can see that small lymph vessels enter these nodes after crossing over the medial umbilical ligament. Lateral to the round ligament is the medial umbilical ligament. This ligament was the umbilical artery in the fetus, which, after birth, became obliterated. The proximal portion became the superior vesicle artery. Reflecting this medial ligament, we can find the superior vesicle artery. In addition to this artery, many arteries for the internal organs originate from the internal iliac artery. Now we can easily trace the above-mentioned small lymphatics originating from the pelvic internal organs. The medial umbilical ligament is cut to view these lymphatics. The superior vesicle artery is cut as well in order to trace the lymphatics along these arteries. These lymphatics travel along the superior vesicle artery to the internal iliac artery. Also of importance is the uterine artery, which originates from the internal iliac artery and crosses over the ureter to reach the uterus. By cutting the uterine artery, we can closely trace the lymphatics which run along the artery. Shifting the ureter medially, we trace a lymph vessel from it, which runs transversally across the common iliac artery and reaches the large node in front of the inferior vena cava. Again moving distally, the aforementioned lymphatics along the uterine arteries are seen. These lymphatics are cut to view the autonomic nerves. Looking now at the left key pelvic structures from the right, we can see the large external iliac nodes, as well as the inter-iliac nodes. This is the medial umbilical ligament and the superior vesicle artery. We will cut this artery to view the uterine artery. Tracing the uterine artery, which supplies the cervix of the uterus and vagina, we note that it crosses over the ureter. Looking closely, we see numerous lymphatics which run along the uterine artery. These lymphatics drain into the external iliac nodes. In front of the uterine artery, we see numerous lymphatics from the uterus and bladder, which drain into the inter-iliac nodes. From these nodes, lymph vessels ascend along the anterior surface of the common iliac artery. Note that a few lymph vessels ascend along the medial side of the common iliac artery.  First, we cut the left ovarian artery and the left ureter. Also in the right side, the ovarian vessels and ureter are cut. Next, we cut the sigmoid arteries and also the superior rectal artery. The rectum is shifted frontward. Between the rectum and the sacrum, a distinct membrane is seen. It contains both hypogastric nerves, so it may be provisionally called the hypogastric nerve fascia. The few connections between this fascia and the rectum are cut. Looking now at the left side, we pull the rectum to the right. To view the lymphatics, we cut the uterine artery and also the uterine vein. Lymphatics along the uterine artery drain into the external iliac nodes. Interestingly, these lymphatics run outside the hypogastric nerve fascia, so it contains the pelvic plexus. We can carefully separate this fascia from the lymphatic vessels. Now we will cut and remove the inferior vesicle vein and also the inferior vesicle artery. The accompanying lymphatics are also cut, as well as those along the uterine artery. Lateral to the pelvic organs lies an important autonomic nerve plexus called the pelvic or inferior hypogastric plexus. The sympathetic component is from the lumbar sympathetic trunk. The parasympathetic component is from S2 to S4 pelvic splenchnic nerves. Now we will look closely at the superior hypogastric plexus. By shifting the inferior mesentery artery, we see that only a few nerves descend from the abdominal aortic plexus to continue to the superior hypogastric plexus. The primary contribution to the formation of the superior hypogastric plexus is from the right and left lumbar splenchnic nerves. From this plexus tracing downward, we note that it bifurcates into the right and left hypogastric nerves. These two hypogastric nerves are connected by the above mentioned hypogastric nerve fascia. Tracing the right hypogastric nerve distally, we note that it reaches the rich pelvic plexus lateral to the rectum. Now we will trace the parasympathetic components forming this plexus. Parasympathetic branches from S2 and S3 first join to form a loop. Later, behind S3, the branch from S4 also contributes to form the parasympathetic pelvic splenchnic nerves. These pelvic splenchnic nerves join the sympathetic hypogastric nerve to form the pelvic plexus. From this pelvic plexus, numerous branches are distributed to the pelvic organs, originating from the same S2 to S4 levels as the pelvic splenchnic nerves are the levator aninerve and the pudendal nerve. The composition of the pelvic plexus has been shown. In Part 2, we will trace the iliac lymphatics to the paraeortic lymphatics and reach the thoraxic duct. The paraeortic lymph nodes are divided into several chains according to the relationship to the aorta and inferior vena cava. At the level of the left renal vein, these lymphatics converge to form the thoraxic duct behind the aorta. To facilitate dissection of the lymphatics, we will cut the superior hypogastric plexus. At the level of the aortic bifurcation, the superior hypogastric plexus is formed. It then divides into the right and left hypogastric nerves. A thin membrane connects the rectum and sacrum. This rectal sacrophagia may serve as an important pathway. Now, on the left side, we will remove the iliac vessels to examine the lymphatic connections surrounding these vessels. We will dissect the external iliac chain from in front of and behind the external iliac artery. Now we will dissect the internal iliac artery and the external iliac vein and continue to examine the inter-iliac angle. Now we will look at the lymphatics behind the iliac arteries. After removal of the iliac artery, we note lymphatic connections between the lateral and medial chains. Tracing the medial chain, we find it reaches the subaortic nodes. Joining this medial chain are lymphatics from the genital urinary organs and also from the rectum. After piercing the hypogastric nerve fascia, lymphatics from the rectum converge via the sacral nodes and then reach the subaortic nodes. Now, on the right side, we will examine the lymphatic connections. Medial and lateral to the iliac vessels, rich lymphatic chains are observed. After removal of the right iliac vessels, we note the rich connections behind the vessels. Held by the forceps is the right common iliac vein. Now we will trace this vein cranial word. This vein is joined by the left common iliac vein to form the inferior vena cava. The left common iliac vein is cut. In front of the lower most part of the inferior vena cava lies a large flat node which is connected to the right lateral iliac chain. With this node shifted, the IVC is cut. To further examine the connection between the iliac lymphatics and the para aortic lymphatics, the lower most part of the abdominal aorta is cut. With the inferior vena cava, we will trace the right iliac lymphatics toward the aorta. Also on the left side, we trace the iliac lymphatics. Now we can see the arrangement of the lymphatics and in particular the subaortic nodes at the level of the aortic bifurcation. From the subaortic nodes, three longitudinal lymphatic chains ascend, the interaortic cable chain, the lateral aortic chain and the lateral cable chain. There is a transverse connection between the lateral cable and lateral aortic chains. A right lumbar splenchnic nerve penetrates the lower most pre-cable node. Now tracing from the lower end of IVC to the level of the left renal vein, we can see the lymph nodes on the posterior surface of the pancreas head. Lymphatics from these retro pancreatical duodenal nodes of Ruri air drain into the interaortic cable nodes just below and above the renal vein. In order to see the lymphatic connections behind the inferior vena cava, we remove it. Now you can see rich lymphatics as well as the retro cable nodes. Moving now to the aorta, you see the pre-aortic nodes. The aforementioned interaortic cable nodes are more clearly seen also. We have to cut the origin of a lumbar artery. After carefully separating the lymphatics the aorta is cut at the level of the renal arteries. You can see numerous rich lymphatic connections and the retro aortic nodes. To obtain pure lymphatic networks, we will trace and remove interfering lumbar splenchnic nerves. Tracing the right lumbar splenchnic nerve, a thin branch from the superior mesentery plexus is found to join this nerve. This is then cut. The right lumbar splenchnic nerve is traced to the lumbar sympathetic trunk. This nerve is cut at the origin and then pulled out of the lymph node group. Also in the left side, similar nerves are removed. Now we will trace the iliac lymphatics to the para aortic lymphatics and then to the thoracic duct. You can see the close relation of the obturator nerve and the right iliac lymphatics. The right and left iliac lymphatics unite just before the aortic bifurcation. The right and left iliac lymphatics are stripped from the pelvic wall. The para aortic lymphatics are removed from the vertebral column. The iliac and para aortic lymphatics have been completely removed on block, maintaining the topographical organization. Tracing the para aortic lymphatics further, we find that in this specimen there are two thoracic ducts. Now we will look at the distribution of the pelvic plexus to the uterus and bladder. The peritoneum covers the uterus seen in the middle and the bladder on the right. In the gap between the rectum and uterus we find the recto uterine pouch. Now we will look at the structural relationships after median sectioning the viscera. First we will examine the right half. Here is the bottom of the peritoneal cavity. The loose connective tissue between the peritoneum and the anterior wall of the rectum is cleared away. In the gap between the uterus and peritoneum the forceps is inserted but it is more difficult to separate. There is a septal structure between the rectum and vagina called the rectovaginal septum also known as the known Villiers fascia. By pushing the forceps through this septum and returning the right half of the viscera back to the original position we can see that the pelvic plexus is situated just lateral to this rectovaginal septum. With the pelvic organs reflected laterally we will look at the distributing branches of the pelvic plexus and particularly those reaching the uterine cervix and bladder neck. After organ reflection and viewed from inside we note that the uterine and vesicle branches are intermingled and relatively inseparable. Looking now at the left half first from the inside and then with the uterus pulled to the right we open the gap between the uterus and the bladder. Now we will see the branches distributed to the uterus and bladder neck. Although these branches are intermingled we can separate those to the bladder from those to the uterus. The female pelvic lymphatics with special reference to the autonomic nerves have been demonstrated.


Welcome to Tourism Matters, an online TV program that explores the many aspects of tourism and how it affects our lives. Tourism is the totality of the phenomena and relationships arising from the interaction of tourists, business suppliers, hosts, government, and host communities in the process of attracting and hosting these tourists and other visitors to deliver a travel experience. It covers transportation, accommodation, dining establishments, retail shops, entertainment, attractions, and other hospitality services for individuals and groups traveling away from home. In this episode brought to you by the UP Asian Institute of Tourism and TV UP, we will examine the major trends that drive the growth of the tourism and hospitality sector and its impact to human development. The tourism and hospitality industry is very dynamic. It constantly adapts to the changing necessities, demands, and desires across human societies. Technological innovations from the Third Industrial Revolution and the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution has greatly transformed the tourist experience. People become more experienced in traveling and careful in their choice of destination, attracting them to a search for new places and new tourist products. They also are more mobile since cross-border travel become much easier due to the liberalization of airlines, construction of new roads, and globalization. Tourists are taking shorter but more frequent holidays throughout the year. They travel more frequently, actively seeking out diverse activities and experiences from their trip, and are now more concerned of the impact of their activities on the natural environment. Hence innovations drive development in the tourism and hospitality sector. Through the perspectives of the following industry practitioners and professionals, we will explore these trends changing the tourism and hospitality sector. Let me welcome to today's episode Mr. Micah-In from Century Travel Corporation and Eugene Sugian, our digital marketing consultant. Hello, Mike. Hello, Eugene. Hi, Marisa. Hi. Can you tell us more about what you do and the length of experience that you have had in the tourism industry? Sure. So my name is Mike Hyen, and I work as a Groups Manager for Corporate International Travel. And I've been a travel agent since when I graduated from AIT back in 1994. So you've never changed tracks? You've been in the hospitality? I also worked for some time in a BPO, but also as a travel agent. Okay. So it's been 21 years in the travel industry. Thereabouts, yes. How about you, Eugene? Hi, ma'am. My name is Eugene Sugian. I am a digital marketing consultant. I've been working for digital marketing for the last 10 years. So way back in 2009, back when it was eBay and Sulit, there was no Facebook then. It was still Friendster. So I started as an online seller back in college. And from there, I was part of the intubation team of Lazada Groupon and Zalora. And then from there, right now, I'm training digital marketing professionals and also marketing in sales departments for different companies all over the Philippines. So with digital marketing right now, it's very exciting. It's a new field that we'd like to all of us could explore. So now the topic that we are going to discuss is about trends in the tourism and hospitality industry. The reason for Mike's presence here is the travel agency sector has been one of the pioneer sectors in the travel industry. And digital marketing has been on the rise for professionals in the tourism industry. So we would like to see how the trends have evolved, especially for the travel agency sector nowadays that you call digital marketing as your disruptor. Okay, so can we hear a few words on how digital, how technology has actually affected both positively and negatively to the travel agency sector? When I started working in the industry as a travel agent, we would even manually issue airline tickets. When I say manually, we really write on the airline tickets and these are paper tickets that cannot be lost. Meaning if the passenger loses a ticket, yes, so buy again. Yes, correct. So it was like that before. With technology, the ticket actually evolved now to an electronic ticket but still using the same concept. So a lot of the old practices were actually used hand in hand with technology. So also during the time there wasn't, internet wasn't widely used. So in effect, we had to research flights using big books, the airline would issue, Ayata would issue those big airline books and we have to research using those. But now with technology, everything is really accessible with a click of the mouse. And then I remember technology in the past, we didn't have email. So if you're looking for flights, it has to be telexed or passed. And also you cannot email the airline for questions you have to call. Even passengers when they book, they either have to call the office, go to the office and then pay. Or they just have to go to the office physically. But with technology now, everything they can do via Viber, via WhatsApp or email. And then even their payment can be done through banks and then everything is quick. So technology was able to help. They did increase business because of the speed by which the transactions are made. As far as Eugene is concerned, now that the traditional way of how Mike has described it, how has it been influencing your position as a digital marketer? As far as with the traditional, what I can see with the traditional is that they're also evolving together with the digital marketing technologies we have. So Facebook started out back in 2008. It wasn't like that. It was basically just a social platform, but now it's basically an entire marketplace, a shopping mall, it could be anything. And Facebook is also, Google is becoming like that. Both are competitors. The traditional, we're seeing more niche markets for different traditional businesses such as hotels. They're also innovating. Resorts are also innovating. Even the destinations level in the Philippines in the provinces, they're also trying to learn how they could maximize digital marketing. So I've had clients before and also students from all over, from Mindanao as far as Mindanao and small destination municipalities who attend training here in Manila, just so that they could learn about marketing, digital marketing, how to use Facebook advertising, how to use Google AdWords, because these are not, although it's available in the internet, they're still looking for someone who could guide them with that. And I think the traditional businesses, if they are able to also know, well, basically to know the enemy, but it's actually not the enemy of an ally, if they are able to, they could maximize the potential of digital marketing. So you were saying that they have, they're able to niche to create market segmentation. How is that possible? With the technology, with Facebook, we have now, we have actually, we could shop different analytical platforms in the internet. We have Facebook analytics at the back end. If you're doing advertising, you could actually segment different markets by using data from the users. So later, I think we could discuss more about the issues regarding that, but they're also, again, we have challenges and issues regarding that, because again, you're breaching into the privacy of our users. So basically we have Netbase, we have Facebook analytics, Google analytics, you could use all those data to actually get the behavior of people, their interests, and how you could target them. So in terms of providing the service, it's faster. And in terms of service execution as well, because you basically know what the customer needs. So how does it might affect or impact your, the traditional way of offering the services, given that those are available, readily available in the digital realm? For traditional travel agents, travel agents like me and working in a traditional travel agency. In fact, we also use platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to market our products. However, there are still passengers who need to talk to somebody. Yes, it is easy for individual travelers to go online and book their future trips, but it's still different if you talk to a traditional, to somebody who's knowledgeable about the destination and the product. There's a huge data available in the market. And if a traveler does not have the time to research and figure out how to sort. Yes, the volume of data available. It will be difficult for the traveler. So that's where the traditional travel agent would come in. The friendly face. Exactly, and for the voice or, you know, because, and in fact, there are two major travel expos in Manila, in the Philippines. So we have the Travel Tour Expo and the Travel Madness Expo. And these are venues for customers to go and actually talk to travel agents to figure out what they can do. But still, in the back end, we still employ digital marketing to market, you know, during the rest of the year.  So you're actually saying they're complimenting your kind of business.  We have to admit that this is the future. Yes. But even if it is the future, you still have a place in the industry. It doesn't mean that, you know, you cannot employ the technology for your benefit. So, yeah. Yeah, thank you. Now I'd like to move further to some issues that maybe you both encounter in the day-to-day operations of your sectors. Can you expound on some issues? As you mentioned earlier, now's the time for the issues. For the issues, I think one of the biggest issues we're facing right now is about data privacy of the users. There's a simplest way that these technologies, these platforms, the internet, can get your information is by simply getting your email. And once they have your email, you have this, you know, wealth of information that you could use for just one users. So this started back in 2015 when Facebook and Google was found out to be reaching on data privacy. And then we have this issue from... How's that when you have your email and then you get everybody else's email? Oh, yes. When you went, well, let's say with Google, when you subscribe into a service for the internet, let's say Facebook, you become a user and then you have Google. They get this, you answer this question. Data mining. Yes, they mine the data. And from there... How is that resolved now? It's not resolved. It's actually an ongoing case. And I think it will continue to be like that. Because it's very prone to abuse. We have this documentary about Cambridge Analytica who used it for election. And Facebook was a platform used for that. Also, the rise of fake news all over the internet. I think there should be more policing on it. And the rise of, you know, data theft as well. So those issues are very important because us as users, like me as a marketer, I question myself as well on my ethics. Am I going to use this data to get the results that I want or should I do it the hard way? So it's basically like that. Thank you. How about you, Mike? But even us now, like what he said about data privacy, it's also a big issue with us, especially because this involves funds. Meaning, you know, the clients give their credit card information to us. So even us, we're very serious about data privacy. And in fact, recently it's been implemented with IACA because sometimes we have to use the client's credit card as a form of payment. So right now, it is an ongoing issue. But which is they're trying to resolve anyway. So we're quite content with the current scenario. It's not like, you know, before where, you know, anybody can just anybody can just use the information, especially when they enter the credit card online. So there's more safeguards. Do you mean there's more safeguards in place for security and safety issues as well as the privacy of the customer? Okay. So it's evolving because you can hack, right? So those are issues that we need to contend with. How has it been evolving so far since we cannot avoid technology? Technology is here to stay, innovations. So how is it evolving? How do you see the progress of the travel industry in the next three, four years? Because it's fast 10 years ago compared to now. It's been super. It's skyrocketed. Travel purchases online has skyrocketed. So how do you see it evolving in three, four years? I can only talk about what we're doing in our company because we're not a huge travel agency. We're a medium-sized travel agency. And however, we cater to corporate clients and to leisure and leisure travelers in general. However, what we try to do is we offer, we try to look for destinations that we can offer our current clients and also something that we can market to people. We were able to pinpoint our market segment. And with that, you just really need to know where your strengths lie. You cannot pop up everywhere. It's difficult to do that. We know our strengths and we know what we can sell. So we zero in on that. We create products based on that. And even with our corporate clients, because right now a lot of the corporate clients, they're very sensitive to cost. So whereas 10 years ago, they're willing to spend more money right now, it's really more of what's cheap. Or probably value for the money to stretch the pencil. Of course, correct. And also the outside costs, they also increase. So it's not like before where everything, they can buy anything. So right now, even like for example, a dinner will have open bar before. Now it's not. So they're more cost-conscious now. So with that, we try to look for better deals for clients, which is they cannot do if they go online. Because they have to search it themselves. Don't you offer that kind of service where you can zero in on what Mike is saying, destinations that offer value for money? Or can it be done also? Yes, it can be done. Oh, it can be done? It can be done. Like there are basically right now, we have a number of marketing intelligence agencies who would guide companies to actually to sell data basically. So the information is there, but the experience is not. So experience plays a big factor. For example, you have a corporate client with 20 million budget, they will not. The computer cannot tell you. No, you need somebody to conceptualize a program for you. You need somebody to put it all together and then deliver the results. Because also especially for clients, for corporate clients who do corporate incentive trips. In incentive trips, you cannot just leave it up to whoever is there. You need somebody who specializes in that, which is what we do. So it's really you need to look for your niche in the market. You need to look for your strengths. So you're exercising, concentrating your resources in the maximum impact. The niche that will give you the maximum yield. Yes, and also because we also participate in trade shows abroad, where we also see the trends in the industry, meaning a lot of them employ technology. For example, for somebody who's organizing a conference, they employ technology for people to sign up, make it more easy for people to sign up. They have apps to do it. So unlike before where they have to, there's a long list of things that they need to do. Now you just go to your phone to register for an event. It's like that. Even us when we attend trade shows, we also do utilize phone apps. That's good to know. You're evolving and using technology as your friend. So the niche now is for travel agents. It's really the corporate travel for your specific experience. Correct. And also a lot of travelers now are looking for more experiential travel. That's the keyword experience because most likely they will forget a destination or a site, a specific site, but they will always remember the experience. And this is where we come in. They cannot get that information from, a computer will not tell them. This is what you'll experience. Somebody will have to explain and make you picture. This is what you will experience. This is how it is when you go to that destination. So it's like that. So we have to find a better way to market the product to the people. So that's more showing people where it's the experience and how it feels more than just the information that is available to anyone who knows how to search. To go online. Correct. Yes. In Eugene's experience, what do you think is the, how is it evolving and adapting to further development of the innovation? With, I actually agree with Sir Mike. Like I could, I see that right now when, when this Facebook thing started, Facebook advertising started, basically everyone was rambling to get into Facebook advertising, to get into digital marketing. But now I, I can sense that there is a retroactive innovation wherein all these, especially the hospital and tourism sector, you have to go back to experiences. How do you use technology now that you have a wealth of data to actually create specialized experiences for special, for, for people? How do you customize experiences? So right now, when we say that you're selling a product or a service, you had, you don't have to see it as like that. Any product, whether, you know, whether a can or a, you know, a sardines or a bag or a, or a bag or, or a shirt or, you know, to, to destinations, you could actually create an experience out of it. So what you should market now, what you should sell now is actually the experience, not the thing itself, not the product itself. How is that possible in digital, in the digital world?  These are the certain, we have influencers. They follow these certain influencers. These are the kind of photos that they like. So based from those aggregate data, these are the photos that are trending. So we have those trending, trending pictures. We have these trending topics. This is how we, there's this use of moment marketing, using moments. Wow, that's new. Moment marketing. Using moments of, for example, you know, the FIFA World Cup.  And then where do you find it in stories? You find it in stories. You find it in Instagram. I think that the latest is September 1. When September 1 came in, everyone, you know, everyone, the shopping mall started, you know, using it, started playing the Christmas carols. So it was trending in, in the, in Twitter, on Facebook, like September 1, Pascona. So, September 1 is Christmas season. So those are certain moments that you need to capture. And actually data, internet data can be used by, by companies to use, to give, to give pleasure to the people, to give experiences to the people. So it's not more about on technological evolution. It's more about experiential evolution. So it's the behavior. It's the behavior. You're looking at the behavior of your online users. Yes, of the online users. Also, in terms of technology, I think the latest one that I was very surprised to, to, to see was back in last month, there, ABSCBN launched their ABSCBN TV Plus Go. It's a dongle with an antenna where you could just connect your Android. And you have TV. You have TV. Well, your community. And it doesn't get any, and it doesn't, it doesn't use your data. So I think that's a, that's a really, like, you know, something, an innovation that you could really see and use, especially for our market. So it was, I think they based that project from the data that, you know, a lot of, of the, of our, of the citizens here in Metro Manila, basically are stuck in traffic and they don't want to use data to, you know, to overuse the data. So they make, you have to put the TV into their, into their cell phone. And from there, you know, you get this innovation. So I think that's how, how, how it will progress for the next three years. Wonderful. You have information wherever you are. Wherever you are. And you can market on those, you know, on those devices as well. As far as we've discussed issues, now I'd like to go into what challenges do you see for your sectors? For now that travel is on the rise, but since we're into experience, we also see that our clients can be very demanding, right? So how do you see what, what challenges do you face in the, in the future? And now that you, you think are noteworthy for our viewers to, to know and to be aware of? Well, for us, because, like, because the information is out there. So for example, if they, if they inquire about a price of a product, and then they say, oh, how come when we check online, it's like this. Oh yeah. So, but they don't realize. They're more informed now, right? Exactly. But they don't realize that, you know, even after you sold them the product, they're still after sales service that you need to do. Like for example, if they encounter issues, if they encounter a problem, who will they go to? A lot of times when they, a lot of our, some of our clients, when they buy something online, and then for example, they encounter a problem later on, they go to us and say, can you help me, can you help me handle it? But what can we do, right? I mean, they are existing clients, but it really happens. It happens out there. Recently, there was this company that folded and it was in the news that they were selling that they sold a lot of packages and they cannot deliver.  Are you not? Are you not? Right? So, so these are the challenges that we face on a daily basis. Then they just need to check with like, for example, the Department of Tourism. If we're registered, and also just deal with companies that are, you know, that are registered businesses with the local government. So, because if they don't, and then if there's a problem, you know, it will affect us. So, what other, what other problems do we encounter? A lot of times, when there's a complaint, you know, we have to, we have to assist them, if they're abroad. If they don't have a travel agent who assisted them, then what will they do? They have to deal with it directly, right? Exactly. So, we also sell like travel insurance to make sure, because sometimes when you travel, they, you know, you just go. But a travel, a travel agent will tell you, you have to get that, you have to get travel insurance, you have to protect yourself when you go. So, these are things that, you know, they might not think of if they just do it by themselves. So, thank you. And that's quite enlightening to find that there's really after, before sales and after sales service, it's really provided by a travel agency. That's what we sell after all, right? Service. We sell the service. We don't just sell a product, because there are plenty of products. But what is the right product for you? So, at least, you know, our regular clients, we know how they are. We know what they, what they like. And so, when they say, oh, I want to do this. And then we just suggest, like, maybe that's not for you. Maybe it's better if you go this way, this route. So, thank you. It's good that you know your market. Oh, yeah. That's very important. With the challenges from my end on marketing services, it's more on educating the clients, because when we, for example, when we propose videos, usually the client would just say, we want a video that will be viral. That's it. That's a goal. But it's hard to know if it's going to go viral, right? Viral. So, you have to present a case that, you know what, this will be the shots. This will be the concept. This will be the storyboard. When we present it to the client, the initial reaction is that, where is the product? So, they're still stuck into thinking that you have to, they're still stuck in the traditional approach of doing advertising, where it's all about product, benefits of the product, advantages, etc. It's too focused on the product. But right now, even in how we package, you know, how we package the advertising experience itself, the first contact, basically, of digital marketing, the first contact, the videos, the photos, we don't actually have to necessarily market the product. You have to market the experience behind what your product can do. So, that's, I think that's the major challenge that it's basic on the mindset of the clients and also for destination. So, we have tourism officers from all over the Philippines that are, most of them are not actually, they don't have the background for marketing or sales. They have different backgrounds on planning, etc. So, we have to educate them because these are clients and customers coming in from the provinces. We have to educate them that this is how marketing is being done these days. These are what makes videos viral, what makes video add value. So, the first thing that we have to realize is that your marketing material in itself is already part of the product. You cannot design it out from your product itself or use it just as a tool because you are actually being based or being judged by the market based on what you present already, that they're already buying that. And although they're not paying money, they're paying attention. They're paying time to actually watch the video because when you open your Facebook, a lot of companies are competing for my attention. So, how do you scroll or watch or stay on the page? Yes. So, that's the main issue now is how you break through the noise. With all these people, including your friends who are also marketing themselves, because everyone wants to become an influencer these days, you are actually competing for attention for each other, not just for companies, but also from users themselves who are creating stories, much better stories than actually your product. So, it's all about breaking through the noise. And in order to break through the noise, you have to know who you are talking to, how do you know, who is your market, what do you know about your market. So, it's more about using technology to create a database that you could actually give to people. You give value on that. So, I completely agree with Sir Mike with the experience. Also, I'd like to add as well that I think for the travel agency sector, for the tour operators sector, the main market would be the mass market, big groups that are... That's why he's group market manager. That's where the business is. Right? We have China coming in. We have China coming in. Yes, in buses and droves. Yes, in buses and droves. Like 3,000 Chinese tourists in just one group. One tour group. Wow, amazing. You will notice there are some travel agencies who actually employ digital marketing heavily. Like for example, they would invite... To break through the noise as usual. They would invite actors and actresses to travel. Influencers. Influencers. And they will post pictures, tag the travel agents. And these are actually good and also bad sometimes. Because good because they attract more possible passengers or possible clients. But bad in a way because then people would just want to become influencers. Because they're not all legit as well. Correct. So they're just in it for the money. And you read stories online of for example, somebody who would say that I'm an influencer. So therefore host me. Oh, so you get those kinds of offers now? Well not me but maybe properties, hotels, the like. So and then they will just say, we don't do that. We don't, we don't, that's not our market. Because a lot of the influencers, they actually attract the mass market. But you get also, you also get, there's also the luxury market which you can tap. So these are people who are willing to spend serious money for really good experiences. And so that's also a decision that business owners should make. Are you for the mass market? Then go truly full digital. But you also have this luxury market that's a niche that's willing to pay much for a similar experience. That's actually our business model. We don't actually do mass market. We do get a lot of luxury travelers as well as corporate travelers. So because if everybody does mass market, it's difficult. You know, the it is a saturated market. There are a lot of travel agents who do that. Even us, when we participate in travel shows or the tour expos, which is the B2C business, we were there to be seen and maybe get one or two clients who are who are actually good luxury travelers. That's why when you visit our booths, we don't have, we don't have all the promos posted. So it's a business decision that most travel agencies make on really finding that specific niche. You need to know what you're willing to do. So maybe to conclude, it's been very interesting that we've seen there's a lot of information available now, more information than ever. But the tourism product is really an experience that we sell and that we're allies, right? The digital world and the traditional world. If you have your last words to our audience who are mostly students of tourism of travel industry, what do you have anything to say to our budding travel agents and budding digital marketers out there? I think I'd like to speak to the students. Those who are actually studying already on tourism, the when you're when you're studying tourism in college, study also how to use digital technology. Because I think our industry tourism and hospitality, it's actually one of the early adapters of technology. We are actually first movers when it comes to technology. Also study digital marketing on Facebook on the side because in the Philippines, we don't have those kinds of schools yet or degrees yet available to the universities. But all of those, what you could learn like me, I personally just learn over the internet. And then go through it. If you choose to enroll in professional schools who are offering this for three-month seminars, it's actually very expensive. But all of those things actually can be learned. Still on the internet, if you're just very hardworking to investigate where it is. So I would suggest you start with Facebook Blueprint and Google AdWords from there. The sky's the limit when it comes to digital marketing. So there are your tips for the future digital marketers out there. Now for our traditional travel agency, there's still so much potential for students of tourism, right? And even when I hire people now, if we get applicants, I always put a premium on those who know how to do digital marketing or designing flyers that you can use and market digitally. So it is important that you know your strengths as a person, but you also need to learn other skills that you can use and apply for the future. Because you don't know what the future brings. So the future is actually full of hope. There may be challenges, but we look forward to a booming travel and tourism industry. We are in the right place, right? The world is becoming small. It's very accessible. The digital world. And because of travel, it really makes the world small. Thank you, Eugene. Thank you very much, Mike. And thank you for all the experiences that you've shared with us. And we look forward to future innovations and interactions. And in closing, we'd just like to say that in tourism, we really are selling an experience, whether it's face-to-face or digital. The information is available at our fingertips, but they're also a friendly face that we can hold onto or look up to so that we can experience a real travel that we can never forget. So with that, thank you very much and we hope you learned a lot today.


This is Witchspace news for Friday the 17th of April 2020, I'm CMDR Buur. In this week's news, Hutton's Operation Hot Mess completes, Fleet Carrier Beta gets an update, Loose Screws is hosting a round table on Fleet Carriers and Frontier are hosting a community movie night. If you enjoy this video consider subscribing to the channel and also click the little bell icon to make sure you don't miss any of our future videos. Back in early January this year the Hutton Orbital Truckers Player Group announced an initiative to deliver one unit of the notoriously painful to acquire rare commodity the Hutton Orbital Mug to every single commodity market in the galaxy. To put that into some perspective there are over 54,000 commodity markets in the Elite Dangerous Galaxy spread out from the area south of Seoul all the way to explore as Anchorage at the center of the galaxy. Hutton Mugs can only be obtained in limited supplies and it takes about an hour and a half in supercruise to get to the only station that sells them. It was a massive undertaking. Progress on the operation was tracked via a plugin for the EDMC app or via the Hutton Truckers website and delivery target updates could also be seen on the Hutton Truckers website. On Wednesday evening this week the initiative was completed. Commander Vantean posted some statistics on the operation on to the official forums. The first mug was delivered by Stephen Benedetti of Frontiers Community Management Team. Commander Retired Navy T1 made the final delivery in total 322 commanders took part. The commander with the most deliveries was Commander Doc Jack with a staggering total of 2,747 mugs and Commander Flossie loaded in excess of 11,000 mugs into other people's ships for delivery. Good heavens 11,000 mugs. Every single known commodity market in the galaxy has had a Hutton mug delivered to it all 54,000. In no other game and in no other gaming community would something like this be possible or even considered and let me just finish on one final quote from forum luminary Alec Turner. Upon hearing the news of the final delivery he posted that the Hutton Truckers were quote a shining example of what can be achieved with resolve, determination and good humor. Quite so Alec. It would be fairly impossible to escape the news this week that the fleet carrier beta currently running until the 20th had had an update a couple of days ago addressing the community's feedback and concerns specifically. We've got into more detail in the video linked on screen right now but in case you missed it the main headlines are a slashing of the upkeep costs and the jump timers and the addition of universal cartographics for the second beta next month following some vigorous community feedback. As we've mentioned the second beta will be starting sometime next month and that beta will also allow console commanders to tinker with the planned update. Expect more changes to the system before it finally launches in June. While we're on the subject of carriers the loose screws podcast are hosting a round table discussion with what they're calling their low sodium super friendos this Sunday at 1500 UTC. The conversation will center around the fleet carrier system and joining the loose screws regulars will be Down to Earth Astronomy, Commander Plater, Alec Turner, Commander Wotherspoon as well as myself and Commander Rini. You'll find links below to everybody's channel so that you can listen to the stream live via your community content creator of choice. And finally during these strange times in which we live frontier developments have announced that they're hosting an online movie night this very evening UTC as I record this Friday the 17th of April. After a vote during the week the movie Jurassic World won and Frontier will be acting as hosts on their official Discord server at 6pm UTC for a community viewing of the movie that is streaming over on Netflix which you'll need an account and a subscription for to participate. We've linked everything you'll need to join below. That's it for now. Thanks so much for watching. We'll be back later this week with more videos. Until then, O7 Commanders, follow the Greens on the way out and do keep clear of the toast rack. We very much look forward to seeing you next time.