Calbayog lines up events for tourism week celebration

TACLOBAN CITY, Sept. 25  -- The local government unit of Calbayog City has lined up several activities to celebrate the National Tourism Week, an official said Tuesday.

In an interview, City Tourism Officer Ronald Ricarfort Jr. said the highlight of the celebration is on September 27 and 28. Both the 2018 Quiz Challenge and the 1st Calbayog Tour Guiding Competition will be held on Thursday.

The contest will be participated in by students in both private and public schools in Calbayog City. The tour guiding competition will enlist Grade 10 students taking education strands related to tourism.

“We have tour guides in the city, but we are looking for people who have natural talents on tour guiding, so that when there is training, we could easily identify and tap them,” Ricafort said.

Each of the seven schools in Calbayog will send two participants. During the competition, the city tourism office will conduct a mock tour in the city’s top tourism destinations.

“After the mock tour, participants will pick an envelope containing the list of tourist destinations and they need to come up with a tour package or itinerary for the selected site,” Ricafort said.

Participants will have to explain or defend the tour package or itinerary they created. Best tour guide and best itinerary will be chosen and awarded after the event.

On September 28, tinapa (smoked fish), one of the products that is pride of Calbayog, will take center stage on the 5th Calbayog Tinapa 101, a cookfest participated by students, showcasing their cooking skills with tinapa as the main ingredients.

Originally observed every first week of May, the National Tourism Week was moved to the last week of September by virtue of Proclamation 894 signed on Oct. 3, 1996 by then president Fidel Ramos.

The change was made to coincide with World Tourism Day on September 27 as declared by the World Tourism Organization and Proclamation 1942 dated Feb. 1, 1980. (SQM/PNA)