Albay Periscope
by Pablo A. Tariman
Albay
May 24, 2014
The recently concluded international tourism convention in Albay May 15 to 20 has once more spotlighted the need for disaster-prone countries to draw up alternative ways of promoting tourism even as they are constantly threatened by effects of climate change.
Albay bore the brunt of Typhoon Reming in 2006 killing more than 2000 inhabitants mostly from mudslides from Mayon Volcano. It has since then recovered and is the only province noted for its world-renowned emergency response capacity with the first and only Climate Change Academy in the world put up by the United Nations Development Program. .
World Wide Fund For Nature International President Yolanda Kakabadse from Ecuador noted in a paper that Filipinos know by heart the true cost of climate change. They know because one storm claimed more than 6,000 lives and inflicted $14 billion in economic damage. They know because they have experienced loss and loss is a powerful teacher.
Over in Catanduanes, a provincial summit on Disaster Risk Reduction Management recently took place in Rakdell Inn and it should provide new input on how it can promote tourism during typhoon seasons.
Provincial tourism officer Carmel Garcia Bonifacio has announced the island province is all set to host the first consultation conference of Triple C on June 9-10, 2014. Triple C tourism cluster refers to the tourism development area (TDA ) that covers the provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes as identified by the Department of Tourism in the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP).. Governor Araceli B. Wong is expected to present her tourism development agenda. The highlight would be the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement or Covenant by the three Governors of Triple C to forge an alliance to ensure the commitment of the LGUs.
With the great inroads made by Albay under Gov. Salceda promoting the ALMASOR (Albay, Masbate, Sorsogon) tourism cluster, all eyes will be on Catanduanes Governor Araceli Wong who will head the Triple C.
A welcome development is a bill filed by Catanduanes Congressman Cesar V. Sarmiento declaring Puraran Beach in Baras town as a tourist spot to be entitled a regular funding support from the government.
Posted Congressman Sarmiento in his face book: A few days ago, the House Committee on Tourism favorably recommended its approval. Puraran Beach is now known here and abroad as one of the best surfing areas in the Philippines. Once it is passed into a law, its development as a tourist spot will be much faster - making it a tourist haven complete with the needed facilities and the much-needed infrastructure.
Meanwhile the significance of the international tourism gathering in Albay is not lost to President Benigno Aquino III who addressed delegates to the 26th Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and UNWTO Commission for South Asia and the UNWTOASEAN International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change.
The President told the delegates he is optimistic the country will meet its goal of 10 million tourists when his term ends in 2016. He added his administration is committed to breaching the 10-million mark by the time his term ends in about two years and one month.
Among others, the President said the tourism sector has reached the 35.5 million domestic travelers target by 2016 five years ahead of schedule and adjusted a newgoal of achieving 56.1 million travelers.
His good news for the Bicolanos: Largely due to the economic and social benefits of the project, as well as the participation of the local community, Donsol (in Sorsogon province) went from a sixth class municipality to a first class municipality in less than five years.
It maybe noted that a sixth class town makes less than P15 million annually while first class towns earn P55 million on the average.
The conference saw local players in the travel industry pledging their support to protect the environment and preserve the nations cultural heritage in promoting tourism.
The conference secretariat said the commitments are part of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism drawn up by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
During the weeklong UNWTO International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change here, UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai commended the countrys tourism office for pushing the promotion of this initiative.
The tourism congress also had fourteen tourism-related establishments signing the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism for the first time.
The Philippines is the second country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, next to Indonesia, to endorse the code adopted in 1999.
The code has only about 200 countries around the world as signatories, mostly from Europe and Latin America.
With international tourism forecast to reach 1.6 billion arrivals by 2020, UNWTO members believe that the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism is needed to help minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural heritage, while maximizing the benefits for residents of tourism destinations.
Some 2,000 delegates from 32 countries attended the tourism congress secured by 300 additional police personnel to beef up the existing police force of the city during their six-day stay in Albay.
For the first time in the province, flags of 32-members nations with participants in the tourism congress unfurled in the cultural landmarks of the province.
Among others, the conference discussed various tourism related subjects among them air connectivity and economic regulation; the role of airports and regional hubs in tourism development, security, and visa facilitation; consumer protection and visitor satisfaction; impact of low-cost airlines; policy on open sky; taxation and levies; and the role of aviation within the Green Economy and its impact on tourism safety, taxation and consumer protection.
The impact of the tourism congress is sure to benefit the Bicol region with the provinces divided into two tourism clusters identified by the Department of Tourism in the National Tourism Development Plan.
They are the ALMASOR consisting of Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon and the Triple C consisting of Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte.
Meanwhile, Albay Governor Joey Salceda has announced the province achieved 300,000 more tourists within a three-year period.
The governor said Albay has earned its lucky charm when it was chosen as the venue of the tourism convention from among 156 countries.
The international tourism congress once more highlighted Albays heritage sites and the active state of its ecotourism as symbolized by its number one tourism endorser, the 2,500- meter high Mayon Volcano.
The delegates savored tertullas in historic Daraga Church and sunset dinner in Cagsawa Church ruins, among others.
Salceda concluded: The recently concluded international tourism congress showed what Albayanos can do in seven days for international stakeholders in tourism. It is better to promote the best in us instead of putting people down. I share the optimism of my provincemates that like the moon, we hope to radiate the brightness of the sun. By the grace of God, I hope there will be far more full moons than eclipses in the tourism front.
BICOL LEADERS WILL BE TESTED IN RENEWED TOURISM DRIVE
Albay
May 24, 2014
The recently concluded international tourism convention in Albay May 15 to 20 has once more spotlighted the need for disaster-prone countries to draw up alternative ways of promoting tourism even as they are constantly threatened by effects of climate change.
Albay bore the brunt of Typhoon Reming in 2006 killing more than 2000 inhabitants mostly from mudslides from Mayon Volcano. It has since then recovered and is the only province noted for its world-renowned emergency response capacity with the first and only Climate Change Academy in the world put up by the United Nations Development Program. .
World Wide Fund For Nature International President Yolanda Kakabadse from Ecuador noted in a paper that Filipinos know by heart the true cost of climate change. They know because one storm claimed more than 6,000 lives and inflicted $14 billion in economic damage. They know because they have experienced loss and loss is a powerful teacher.
Over in Catanduanes, a provincial summit on Disaster Risk Reduction Management recently took place in Rakdell Inn and it should provide new input on how it can promote tourism during typhoon seasons.
Provincial tourism officer Carmel Garcia Bonifacio has announced the island province is all set to host the first consultation conference of Triple C on June 9-10, 2014. Triple C tourism cluster refers to the tourism development area (TDA ) that covers the provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes as identified by the Department of Tourism in the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP).. Governor Araceli B. Wong is expected to present her tourism development agenda. The highlight would be the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement or Covenant by the three Governors of Triple C to forge an alliance to ensure the commitment of the LGUs.
With the great inroads made by Albay under Gov. Salceda promoting the ALMASOR (Albay, Masbate, Sorsogon) tourism cluster, all eyes will be on Catanduanes Governor Araceli Wong who will head the Triple C.
A welcome development is a bill filed by Catanduanes Congressman Cesar V. Sarmiento declaring Puraran Beach in Baras town as a tourist spot to be entitled a regular funding support from the government.
Posted Congressman Sarmiento in his face book: A few days ago, the House Committee on Tourism favorably recommended its approval. Puraran Beach is now known here and abroad as one of the best surfing areas in the Philippines. Once it is passed into a law, its development as a tourist spot will be much faster - making it a tourist haven complete with the needed facilities and the much-needed infrastructure.
Meanwhile the significance of the international tourism gathering in Albay is not lost to President Benigno Aquino III who addressed delegates to the 26th Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and UNWTO Commission for South Asia and the UNWTOASEAN International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change.
The President told the delegates he is optimistic the country will meet its goal of 10 million tourists when his term ends in 2016. He added his administration is committed to breaching the 10-million mark by the time his term ends in about two years and one month.
Among others, the President said the tourism sector has reached the 35.5 million domestic travelers target by 2016 five years ahead of schedule and adjusted a newgoal of achieving 56.1 million travelers.
His good news for the Bicolanos: Largely due to the economic and social benefits of the project, as well as the participation of the local community, Donsol (in Sorsogon province) went from a sixth class municipality to a first class municipality in less than five years.
It maybe noted that a sixth class town makes less than P15 million annually while first class towns earn P55 million on the average.
The conference saw local players in the travel industry pledging their support to protect the environment and preserve the nations cultural heritage in promoting tourism.
The conference secretariat said the commitments are part of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism drawn up by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
During the weeklong UNWTO International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change here, UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai commended the countrys tourism office for pushing the promotion of this initiative.
The tourism congress also had fourteen tourism-related establishments signing the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism for the first time.
The Philippines is the second country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, next to Indonesia, to endorse the code adopted in 1999.
The code has only about 200 countries around the world as signatories, mostly from Europe and Latin America.
With international tourism forecast to reach 1.6 billion arrivals by 2020, UNWTO members believe that the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism is needed to help minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural heritage, while maximizing the benefits for residents of tourism destinations.
Some 2,000 delegates from 32 countries attended the tourism congress secured by 300 additional police personnel to beef up the existing police force of the city during their six-day stay in Albay.
For the first time in the province, flags of 32-members nations with participants in the tourism congress unfurled in the cultural landmarks of the province.
Among others, the conference discussed various tourism related subjects among them air connectivity and economic regulation; the role of airports and regional hubs in tourism development, security, and visa facilitation; consumer protection and visitor satisfaction; impact of low-cost airlines; policy on open sky; taxation and levies; and the role of aviation within the Green Economy and its impact on tourism safety, taxation and consumer protection.
The impact of the tourism congress is sure to benefit the Bicol region with the provinces divided into two tourism clusters identified by the Department of Tourism in the National Tourism Development Plan.
They are the ALMASOR consisting of Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon and the Triple C consisting of Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte.
Meanwhile, Albay Governor Joey Salceda has announced the province achieved 300,000 more tourists within a three-year period.
The governor said Albay has earned its lucky charm when it was chosen as the venue of the tourism convention from among 156 countries.
The international tourism congress once more highlighted Albays heritage sites and the active state of its ecotourism as symbolized by its number one tourism endorser, the 2,500- meter high Mayon Volcano.
The delegates savored tertullas in historic Daraga Church and sunset dinner in Cagsawa Church ruins, among others.
Salceda concluded: The recently concluded international tourism congress showed what Albayanos can do in seven days for international stakeholders in tourism. It is better to promote the best in us instead of putting people down. I share the optimism of my provincemates that like the moon, we hope to radiate the brightness of the sun. By the grace of God, I hope there will be far more full moons than eclipses in the tourism front.