Thursday, October 09, 2008 ‘Be friendly, hospitable’
A FIVE-day international tourism forum that will be held in Cebu later this month will put the province in the global tourism map as ideal place for international gatherings.
The 6th United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) International Tourism Forum will also bring in revenues to the local tourism industry, which is affected by the financial crisis in the United States that accounts for 11.12 percent of visitor arrivals in Cebu January-June this year.
The UNWTO will hold a workshop on the tourism satellite account from Oct. 21 to 22 and the 6th International Tourism Forum for Parliamentarians and Local Authorities on Oct. 22 to 25 at at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa.
Tourism Undersecretary Phineas Alburo appealed to the public, during the Kapihan sa PIA yesterday, to make the UNWTO forum delegates feel welcomed.
“Let us maintain our friendliness and hospitality because the benefits that we will reap from this event will come to us a hundredfold. They are also tourists; if we can take care of them, results will be multiplied several times from the hotels to our fishermen as these delegates will eventually become indirect promoters of Cebu,” he said.
The UNWTO is a specialized agency of the United Nations and the leading international organization in the field of tourism. The UNWTO forum serves as venue for discussion of tourism policy issues and provides an opportunity for stakeholders to exchange knowledge on the industry.
As the Department of Tourism (DOT) is still fine-tuning the preparations for the event, the DOT said about 195 foreign delegates from 56 countries—out of 135 member-states—have already confirmed their participation in the forum. The DOT
expects the number of foreign participants to increase to more than 200.
About 200 local delegates are also expected to join the conference that will be graced by UNWTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli, President Arroyo and Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos said the PNP already has “adequate” personnel for traffic control and security.
Although Alburo declined to disclose the budget for the event, he said the DOT has “enough” financial resources to answer for the meals, transportation, hotel arrangements, equipment and interpreters, among others.
Delegates will have to pay for their airfare and hotel accommodations, though. Official hotels include the Shangri-La, Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Marco Polo Plaza.
While the event’s theme will focus on tourism and the UN Millennium Development Goals, Alburo said that other urgent issues that might be taken up may include global warming and the threat of an economic meltdown in some countries.
The previous UNWTO International Tourism Forum for Parliamentarians and Local Authorities was held in June last year in Tunisia. (NRC)
