CEBU Business Month’s (CBM) Tourism Summit this year showcased inspiring sustainable stories worth emulating, especially at this time when the industry faces challenges on various fronts.
The two-day summit on July 20-21, 2023, recognized winning stories of resilient individuals who made a difference at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic by incorporating sustainability measures into their respective businesses while triumphing over the impacts of lockdowns and supply issues, among others.
Community resilience
Bojo Aloguinsan Ecotourism Association (Baetas), which has been operating for more than 14 years, is one of those that has an inspiring story to share.
Its president, Jomelyn de los Reyes, shared how local tour guides and constituents of the organization strive to win during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Bojo River Eco-Cultural Tour, which is managed by Baetas, is Aloguinsan’s precious gem. Located in the midwest part of Cebu, Bojo is known for its river, hills, underwater natural riches, mangroves, birds, and responsible locals.
Its river cruise tour was created by the Municipality of Aloguinsan to protect the Tañon Strait’s marine resources, the Bojo River, and to augment the local’s source of income.
A group of fishermen and housewives run Baetas, which organizes river tour activities with mangrove ecology, bird, and wildlife lectures. The income they get from the activity is distributed to the local government unit, community and barangay fund, and to the employees.
This nature-based, inclusive and sustainable tourism program in Bojo, Aloguinsan caught global attention and was listed by Green Destinations as one of the Top 100 Global Sustainable Destinations in the world.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Aloguinsan stopped all its tourism activities, halting the livelihood of Baetas members. Amid the economic difficulties, they never left Aloguinsan.
Many of them were offered jobs to man the town’s Quarantine Control Points (QCP), where they inspect individuals entering and exiting the municipality requiring documentation, IDs, and certifications as a point of reference. The LGU and barangay provided the Baetas volunteers with supplies as payment.
Baetas was conferred by CBM’s tourism committee with the Community Resilience Award during the Cebu Tourism Summit on July 20, 2023.
Environmental resilience
“Make nature the story,” is what Mariglo Laririt director for Sustainability of Ten Knots Group under Ayala Hotels and Resorts told the audience as a recipient of the Environmental Resilience Award.
Applying pro-environmental practices to its waste management, the Ten Knots is a group of resorts in El Nido, Palawan that landed a spot for an award for its performance in dealing with waste issues in its resorts and hotels and issues involving nature in Palawan.
Laririt worked toward her goal of persuading everyone to understand the advantages and obligations of running resorts inside the protected area. Her campaigns encouraged visitors, business owners, officials, and staff to support broader conservation aims. She invited locals to join causes that champion sustainable tourism, realizing how closely economic objectives and environmental goals are related to community well-being.
Through the slogan “being green and great,” the company is providing disposable toiletries to their guests and connecting with the locals in replacing their traditional products with biodegradable components. Laririt emphasized that in showcasing tourism for economic development, nature must be the highlight.
Economic resilience
The farm owned by Josephine Costales also spoke about the advantages of agricultural tourism and how her farm became the first pronounced Farm Tourism in the country.
This farm-to-table concept of Costales Nature Farms (CNF) located in Laguna ardently advocates healthy living by using and consuming fresh, organic produce and animals. CNF was established in 2005.
Costales said she and her late husband Ronald did not expect their farm to turn into a tourist attraction since it was just their destination getaway whenever they felt the need to get out of the busy metropolis and reconnect with nature.
The couple previously worked in the IT industry before they dipped their toes in agri-tourism. CNF then expanded from a single company to a group of businesses. The agri-tourism businesses became a recipient of numerous awards since 2012 from various agencies like the Department of Tourism and Agriculture, including CBM 2023’s Economic Resilience Award.
Health and safety resilience
Eleanor Rivera, co-founder of Cocina Collective’s Food for Practitioners, also shared how her local farm and kitchen in Balamban, Cebu played a crucial part in providing frontliners in major hospitals in Cebu with fresh produce from local farmers during the Covid-19 pandemic. She provided them with nutritional snacks prepared by professional chefs.
Rivera, a medical practitioner and owner of Healing Present Wellness, received the Health and Safety Resilience Award. She encouraged Cebuanos to patronize local produce as it could help grow the economy.
CBM in its 27th year has evolved from a day, weeks, and just last year, the longest six months of business celebrations. This year’s CBM is anchored on the theme: “Cebu ‘ta bai’: Moving Forward, Shaping the Future.”
(Claudine Flores, Angel Leduna, CNU Interns)