The team of 17 tourism and local government officials was headed by Department of Tourism 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) director Karina Rosa Tiopes.
On Friday, the group observed how the region handles cruise, farm
and community-based tourism, which it could adopt.
Zamboanga Peninsula is like Eastern Visayas when it comes to what
it can offer to tourists, however, the problems on security and armed conflict
affect tourism promotion efforts.
Tiopes used to be the DOT regional chief in Eastern Visayas.
Among the famous places in Zamboanga Peninsula are Dapitan City,
where the Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal was exiled for four years; the
Fort Pilar Shrine and Museum, a Spanish garrison built in year 1635; and Sta.
Cruz Beach, also known as the Pink Beach of Zamboanga City.
“There were lots of tourists who visited our region, but the
number declined due to Martial Law and the Marawi siege,” said Dapitan City
Councilor Danny Estacio.
“But now, it is recuperating slowly and we just have to come up
with a new strategy. We are here to learn what the DOT in Region 8 (Eastern
Visayas) has done so we can duplicate the practice in our place,” Estacio
added.
The visit in some popular tourist destinations in Eastern Visayas
gave them an idea on how to market Zamboanga as a tourist destination.
“Tourism is a never-ending learning process and it is now a big
industry that could give income to our local constituents, economic activity
that could spur and improve their standard of living,” Estacio said.
“Hopefully, we can implement the things that we learned from our
visit here,” he added.
Estacio noted that they have already learned many things on their
first day of benchmarking, including how to project their region as a safe
place to visit.
“Our city is a safe place. However, people think that there is a
security and peace and order problem, which we need to clarify. Our city and
our region is a beautiful and safe place to visit,” he said.
Unlike Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula has a distinct
characteristic of hosting diverse communities of ethnic people, both Muslims
and Christians.
“We have groups of people who are living harmoniously. I said
harmoniously because the conflicts there are just pocket conflict. We tend to
look at the conflict more than the actual situation,” Tiopes explained.
She said this distinct characteristic of Zamboanga Peninsula would
make a good marketing strategy for cruise tourism because of its rich
historical, heritage and cultural diversity that tourists would truly love and
enjoy.
The delegation from Zamboanga toured Cuatro Islas and observed how
DOT handles cruise tourism.
The group watched how the locals presented to foreign tourists
their local songs and dances, their way of life, their source of income, their
local cuisine and their local wine.
“We always thought that it is possible, but to see it in action is
so empowering because it doesn’t take so much but just imagination and of
course, cooperation between the local government, the DOT, and the private
sector. This is, I think, the perfect mix where we see it work hand in hand in
a successful form,” said Svetlana Jalosjos, general manager of Dakak Resort and
Properties based in Dapitan.
“This is something that we envisioned for our place and aspire for
and now we see it is so much doable,” Jalosjos added.
After witnessing how cruise tourism works, the group visited the
famous tourist destination in Baybay City, the 16,000 Blossoms at Linta-on
Peak, and Ormoc City to meet Mayor Richard Gomez to discuss post-disaster
tourism industry recovery.
This weekend, the group will also visit the province of Biliran
for benchmarking on farm tourism and the province of Samar where they will
visit the town of Paranas for the Olot Torpedo Boat Ride and the Sohoton Cave
in Basey town. These areas are models for community-based tourism in
Eastern Visayas. (RTA/PNA)
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