AS an industry, tourism is undoubtedly a major economic driver. It creates jobs and improves incomes even as the industry promotes local appreciation of history and culture.
Yet, the industry surrounding travel purposely for leisure or business has its critics. The practice of travel as “escape” also appeals to a group of tourists seeking commercial sex.
With its history of U.S. military bases spawning a rest-and-recreation nether culture, the Philippines remains on the list of “most popular countries for sex tourism,” according to Huffington Post.
Thus, the rise of ecotourism as an alternative to more commercial travel is welcomed by those who associate exposures to new people, environments, and cultures as educational, transformative, and socially responsible, instead of consumerist, extractive, and exploitative.
On the other hand, ecotourism is also in danger of becoming a marketing brand rather than an ethical exploration of natural and cultural heritage intended to blend the interests and needs of both the visitor and the host community.
As defined by The International Ecotourism Society (Ties), an association of practitioners, ethical ecotourism upholds three principles: conservation of the environment, well-being of the community, and education of both hosts and guests.
In top ecotourism destinations in Cebu and Bohol, as well as in other places in the country, there are observable indicators that commercial gain primarily drives the stakeholders’ interest to promote “ecotourism” attractions and activities whose resemblance to the original intent of self- and socially responsible travel is limited only to their cursory associations with local heritage and resources.
In Loboc, Bohol, for instance, there is a steady stream of tourists visiting an area marketed as a conservation sanctuary for tarsiers, the world’s smallest primate and an endangered species found only in the country and other Southeast Asian nations.
Perhaps due to the site’s proximity to other popular tourist destinations like the Man-Made Forest, the Loboc River Cruise, and the Chocolate Hills, many tourists are brought here rather than to the government-supported Tarsier Research and Development Center, which operates the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary in Corella, Bohol.
In Loboc, the tarsiers are on exhibit, moved from their natural habitat and positioned along strategic niches that are accessible to visitors during a walking tour that can be as brief as one chooses to make it.
Since the nocturnal creatures are often asleep under their makeshift “shelters,” daytime visitors often disregard the visible posted notices requesting silence and resort to crooning or making other sounds and gestures to “awaken” the tarsiers so the visitors can take better selfies or photos.
Some of the Loboc guides must also “walk the talk” since tandems tend to gossip among themselves, speaking sometimes louder than visitors.
In Loboc, it is noticeable that the briefing that preceded the walk around the tarsier enclosure has been discontinued. The short hike to view the tarsiers ends with exiting tourists walking into a shop for souvenirs and stalls for refreshments.
In contrast, the Corella sanctuary run by the Philippine Tarsier Foundation and supported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Tourism, visitors are guided to take the Tarsier Trail to observe tarsiers in the wild, 167 hectares of protected timberland considered as a social forestry site essential for the survival and sustainability of the Philippine Tarsier.
With their guides, Corella sanctuary visitors will also appreciate the importance of the wild flora and fauna that are essential for the well-being of the tarsiers and the local communities.
The Corella sanctuary impresses on the visitor that the tarsier, far from being a stuffed souvenir or T-shirt design, is part of the Filipino living heritage to be understood, protected, and sustained.