International tourism meet seen to boost Cebu, Bohol By Irene Sino Cruz
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 18:55:00 02/05/2008
CEBU CITY, Philippines -- In winning its bid to host a biennial international tourism forum scheduled for October in 2008, Cebu's tourism industry will receive a boost amid the growing competition for tourists in the region.
Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, in a press briefing held Tuesday, said the hosting of the 6th International Forum on Tourism for Parliamentarians and Local Authorities would increase global awareness of Cebu and Bohol.
Durano said the tourism forum, an event organized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), would boost the earnings of the retail, hotel, resort, restaurants transportation and hospitality sectors in Cebu and Bohol.
He explained that it would not be all work for the 400 forum participants from 100 countries.
"They will come here first as participants but they will also come as tourists. All hotels will have very good occupancy rates and new businesses will go to the shopping malls, restaurants and even transport," Durano said.
Undersecretary Edu Jarque of the Department of Tourism also noted that international journalists would come to cover the forum, giving media mileage to the province. "All articles will be datelined Cebu," Jarque added.
The challenge, he said, would be how to maximize the short time the forum participants and the foreign journalists would spend here so they could see the best that Cebu could offer.
The forum participants would also be brought on a technical tour to Bohol to showcase its best practices of tourism development sustainability, Durano said.
"Bohol is the best example of balanced development," he pointed out. (highlighting mine)
Durano cited as example the banning by the Bohol local government of structures within 100 meters from the low tide to beach so that nothing could block the beach.
The local government also restricted the height of resort structures so that these would not go beyond the trees.
After the technical tour to Bohol, Durano said the Department of Tourism would encourage the participants to visit other sites such as Boracay, Palawan, Davao and Metro Manila.
Durano said the visit to Bohol would be in line with the issues affecting tourism. This year's forum would focus on three issues, such as climate change, poverty reduction and women in tourism.
He said the tourism industry would have to determine how climate change would influence travel trends and, then, come up with measures to adjust to the changes.
Dominique Bernardet, chief of UNWTO conferences, translation and document services, explained that the forum would help create awareness among parliamentarians of the importance of tourism.
Tourism would help developing countries in their efforts to reduce poverty, Bernardet said. "We have examples of developed countries where tourism is a very important economic factor," she added.
Bernardet said a tourism workshop was set to be held before the forum proper to focus on the three issues and the results would be presented during the forum.
The forum will be held at the Shangri-la's Mactan Island Resort and Spa from October 22 to October 25.
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Topic: Bohol cited by Durano as example of balanced development (Read 932 times)