MARIE Soleil P. Tropicales has been appointed as the new Tourism Director/Attaché for the San Francisco office of the Philippine Department of Tourism. Director Tropicales assumed her post last January 22, 2019.
Director Tropicales took over the SF post from Purificacion Suanding Molintas, who was tourism director for the last four years.
Director Tropicales holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), where she was also the recipient of the Quezon Leadership Award.
Upon her completion of her Master’s in Business Administration from the UST Graduate School where she graduated cum laude, Director Tropicales joined The Discovery Leisure Company, Inc. as part of the pre-opening team for the Misibis Bay Resort and Hotel Venezia in Bicol. She also worked with the team of Discovery Suites in Manila and Discovery Shores Boracay.
In addition to being in the sales and marketing industry for more than a decade, the UST alumna also had a brief stint in the academe as a part-time teacher at the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management of Far Eastern University (FEU).
In 2014, Director Tropicales joined the Philippine Department of Tourism where she was assigned to the Route Development Division of the Market Development Group. A year earlier, she had passed the Competency Based Assessment Program of the PDOT and joined the pool of Tourism Attachés. She handled the hosting of the Routes Asia 2016 in Manila, considered the biggest aviation event in Asia.
Director Tropicales has participated in various aviation and trade events in China, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, Spain and South Africa, and also presented her paper, “Air Route Development in the Philippines: Prospects for Improving the Tourism Industry,” at the 15th APacCHRIE Conference 2017 in Bali, Indonesia. She has been instrumental in strengthening and growing the direct air connections of the Philippines from tourist source markets of the country.