TOURISM Secretary Christina Frasco has officially appointed Judy dela Cruz Gabato as the Regional Director of the Department of Tourism-Central Visayas (DOT 7), with Gelena Asis-Dimpas as the new Assistant Regional Director.
Gabato succeeds Shahlimar Hofer Tamano, who became Undersecretary for Tourism Regulation, Coordination, and Resource Coordination in 2022.
Gabato, who has been acting as the DOT-7 Officer-in-Charge since 2022, also led the Tourism Regulations Division. She implemented key accreditation protocols and is a trained international assessor for the hospitality industry.
Meanwhile, Dimpas has headed DOT-7’s Tourism Development Division since 2017, leading market and product development. She launched initiatives like Edux7 for English as a Second Language (ESL) and FMA7, highlighting Filipino Martial Arts.
Gabato emphasized that strong regional collaboration is key to tourism success, aligning their efforts with the National Tourism Development Plan to foster partnerships with local stakeholders. / KOC