DavNor Guv bats for tourism master plan

Photo courtesy of Noel Baguio (taken during
the President's visit to Davao City in July 2012)

TAGUM CITY, Feb. 11 -- Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario has urged all the municipalities and cities in the province to come up with their own tourism master plans and align it with the national government’s tourism development direction. 

“The Governor is set to issue a memorandum to all municipalities urging them to come up with their own tourism plans,” Davao del Norte Provincial Tourism Council President Araceli Ayuste said. 

Ayuste said even Samal which is already a popular area for tourism, does not have a tourism master plan. Tagum City also does not have a tourism master plan. She said almost all cities and municipalities in the province do not have a tourism plan except perhaps Kapalong. 

It is only now that Samal and the different municipalities in the province have seriously considered the crafting of a tourism plan, Ayuste said. 

Del Rosario admitted that years ago, they were only interested in promoting Samal as a tourist destination and did not consider promoting tourism in the mainland. 

“But with the new administration (referring to the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III), we realized that the only direction to follow when it comes to tourism is where the national government is heading,” he said. 

President Aquino’s administration has really been pushing for tourism by providing more funding for infrastructure development, he said. We are now trying to reorganize and reinvigorate the tourism council and make it more active, he added. 

Department of Tourism XI Regional Director Art Boncato recently presented the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) to the Provincial Tourism stakeholders in response to Del Rosario’s call for the reinvigoration of the tourism industry starting with the adoption of the three strategic directions of the NTDP. 

Boncato said the development of the country’s tourism is anchored on three strategies namely the development and marketing of competitive products and destinations, improving market access, connectivity and destination infrastructure as well as improvement of tourism institutional governance and human resources.(RGA/LAC/PIA XI)