The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) led by Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco joined key tourism players from across the globe in the 10th Global Tourism Economy Forum held in Macao special administrative region (SAR) of China.
Frasco was in Macao as one of the panelists at the forum joining ministers from tourism powerhouses such as Spain, Italy, China, and Brazil, among others.
The tourism chief shared the Philippine government’s sustainability efforts for tourism and, at the same time, her bold prospects for the industry.
“We are one of the most megabiodiverse countries in the world, and home to 10% of the world’s marine protected area.”
“The Philippines is home to one of the longest coastlines in the world, as well as 70 to 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity. We are one of the most megabiodiverse countries in the world, and home to 10% of the world’s marine protected area,” she began during the panel discussion among tourism ministers who are members of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Regional Department for Asia and the Pacific.
“Sustainability and tourism have been an absolute necessity and the driving force of development for our country. As early as 2009 with the passage of the law that created the Tourism Act, sustainable tourism was identified by our government as being integral to our socio-economic development, and therefore, that has been the guiding force towards the programs and plans for the development of our tourism industry,” the tourism head added.
With the approved National Tourism Development Plan 2023-2028, Frasco explained that the approach for the country’s tourism blueprint was crafted from a sustainability standpoint incorporated under a seven-point agenda by which the DOT is currently operating at present.
“Under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., he approved recently the National Tourism Development Plan for the Philippines that will span from 2023 to 2028, and in this plan, we have approached tourism from a sustainability standpoint in a sense that we look at it from a developmental framework, identifying 7 objectives for tourism development, chief of which is infrastructure,” she said.
Frasco emphasized that infrastructure has also been identified as a priority given the geological features of the Philippines as a destination composed of 7,641 islands, over 80 provinces, hundreds of cities, and over 1400 municipalities.
“Our government agencies have come together in a convergence to ensure, first of all, that we increase accessibility to our tourism destinations to the development of tourism roads.”
“This means that our government agencies have come together in a convergence to ensure, first of all, that we increase accessibility to our tourism destinations to the development of tourism roads,” she added.
The Global Tourism Economy Forum is a leading international exchange platform designed to promote the sustainable development of the global tourism sector.
It is hosted by the Secretariat of Economy and Finance of the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region (GSEF), and in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the GTEF is co-organized by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and the China Chamber of Tourism (CCT), and coordinated by the Global Tourism Economy Research Centre (GTERC).
