This in a nutshell was the common chorus of industry experts from the 38 th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Tourism Working Group (APEC - TWG) Meeting who visited Bohol recently. Gov. Edgar Chatto on Monday welcomed them at the Bohol Beach Club on Panglao island during their technical visit to Bohol that capped the Philippine-hosted 21-country conference. The delegates convened for two days in Cebu before their Bohol visit which was equated in importance with the technical visit here of the participants to the United Nations-World Tourism Organization (UN-WTO) forum some two years ago. Twenty three foreign delegates and seven representatives from the Philippines' own Department of Tourism led by Region 7 Director Rowena Lu Y. Montecillo came to the province on a technical visit as part of the 38 th APEC - TWG Conference held in Cebu City this weekend.
The 30-man delegation was comprised of senior tourism officials and technical experts from the APEC nations of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the Philippines. The group visited the tarsier sanctuary in Corella and then drove to Loboc via Sikatuna for lunch on the river cruise. They then proceeded to the Chocolate Hills Complex in Carmen passing the man-made forest in Bilar before proceeding to Panglao, where they were entertained by the Loboc Youth Ambassador Band. They were met by Chatto along with Sangguniang Panlalawigan representatives Abeleon Damalerio and Venzencio Arcamo, Provincial Administrator Alfonso R. Damalerio II, and Bohol Tourism Office OIC Josephine Cabarrus.
I Gusti Putu Laksaguna, Senior Advisor for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Indonesia spoke in behalf of the delegation and conveyed gratitude to Chatto for the warm and hospitable welcome and for a memorable visit to the province by proclaiming “I left my heart in Bohol” along with a sincere promise to come back to the province with his family. Go v. Chatto underscored the resilience of the tourism industry and the province's development framework anchored on tourism as one of the tools for economic development as he welcomed the delegates to the province. The benefits of tourism have been widely acknowledged as key economic driver for the APEC region which bank on the diverse and increasing market potential of tourism opportunities, he asserted. The APEC Tourism Working Group was established in 1991 to promote the development for tourism as an important component of economic growth and social development in the Asia-Pacific. (Leah/EDCom) |
