RECOGNIZING the province as one of the major festival destinations in the country, the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Western Visayas is pushing for better management of festivals in Negros Occidental.
Though Negros Occidental is already strong in terms of festivals, there is still a need for cities and municipalities here to improve their knowledge and skills on managing such tourism activity, DOT-Western Visayas Administrative Officer Artemio Ticar said at the sidelines of the three-day Festival Management Seminar held at L’Fisher Chalet in Bacolod City starting Monday, September 24.
Ticar, also the designated tourism area development head for Negros Occidental, said festivals are not only about dance competitions or showcase of different tribes.
“These are just part of the entire festivity,” he said, adding that other aspects of managing the festival include food specifically its handling, gender sensitivity, safety and security of the guests, and accommodation, among others.
The tourism official noted there are localities in the province which seemed to have forgotten the “protocols” in handling festivals.
To address this need, DOT-Western Visayas initiated the first Festival Management Seminar in the region specifically for local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental.
It was attended by about 50 representatives of LGUs in the province, mostly tourism officers and personnel. Some are from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), which is also hosting various events.
Cristine Mansinares, provincial supervising tourism operations officer, said the project is under the agency’s Tourism Industry Skills Program (TISP).
Mansinares said TISP is aimed at empowering industry workers to provide quality service leading to customer satisfaction, meet services standards, increase employment in the tourism sector, improve income opportunities, and increase the competitiveness of the country’s tourism industry.
The agency tapped as speaker Jaime Antonio Jr., who is a resource person for culture and governance, cultural festival management, and culture mapping and profiling. He is also part of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Speakers Bureau.
“The seminar focuses on local culture profiling, festival concept making, aesthetics, stakeholders analysis, gender analysis, festival organizing roles and responsibilities, cost-benefit analysis and budgeting, cultural festival best practices, documentation, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing,” she added.
Moreover, Negros Occidental is the only province in Western Visayas with a variety of festivals in every city and municipality, Ticar pointed out.
In fact, its Panaad sa Negros Festival dubbed as the “Festival of all Festivals” was named Hall of Fame awardee for Best Tourism Event festival category by the DOT and Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines, through its Pearl Awards last year.
Some of the province’s festivals like Pinta Flores Festival of San Carlos City, Bailes de Luces Festival of La Castellana and MassKara Festival of Bacolod City have been invited to perform in different national and international events.
Ticar said they are optimistic that through the seminar, LGUs will be taught and armed to improve the management of their respective festivals through one, being capable of identifying the specific roles of every “team” designated to handle the event.
“Better festival management means being able to meet the needs as well as expectations of the guests,” he said, adding that “through this measure, we are looking at more tourists coming to the province to experience our festivities while preserving the culture of every locality.”