World tourism officials to attend int'l forum in Cebu

CEBU CITY – The Department of Tourism (DoT) 7 confirmed that 50 percent of the expected 160 foreign delegates to the United Nations-World Tourism Organization's (UN-WTO) 6th International Tourism Forum for Parliamentarians will initially be attending the high profile international event next month.

Tourism Undersecretary Phineas Alburo said at present 80 foreign parliamentarians, national tourism administrators, international organizations and member-countries of the UNWTO will flock to Shangri-la's Mactan Resort and Spa on October 21-25.


"We expect 80 to 90 percent turn-out of foreign delegates to join the international tourism forum," he said in a press conference.

According to DoT 7, 29 of the 135 member-countries of the have so far verified to send their delegation, among these include China, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Pakistan, among others.

The international forum, which is held every two years, is expected to gather some 500 foreign and local representatives.

Alburo said that while this year's international event will bring in key tourism officials from UN countries, preparations are a scale-down version of the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit that the province hosted in January 2007.

He said tourism stakeholders including taxi operators have already been briefed about the coming event. Security measures have also been mapped out and put in place.

"Once again, Cebu will be the center of the world stage," Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said earlier.


"It is an opportunity for Cebu to look forward to and grow, and an effective way for Cebuanos to look inward and present its competitiveness and strength as a people to the rest of the world," he added.

Durano said tourism-related discussions to be tackled during the forum will deal on infrastructure projects, climate change, poverty reduction and the role of women in the industry.

He said infrastructure, especially airport development, will always be a vital component to increase tourism activities in a country.

A change in the climatic conditions will also be crucial in the traffic of foreign visitors, thus the tourism sector must be prepared for whatever changes in terms of trends and travel habits of tourists during wet and dry seasons, he added.

Durano also spoke of "immeasurable benefits and trickle-down effects" that the international tourism fair will bring to Cebu, as the main venue, as well as Bohol, which will be visited by delegates.

After the technical visit to Bohol, delegates will be provided the option for a post-conference tour of tourism hot spots like Boracay, Palawan, Davao, Manila and Cagayan de Oro. #

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