The Municipality of Dauis was declared one of the top ten implementers of the three-year Technical Cooperation Programme on the Development of Tourism Statistics for Local Government Units during the National Tourism Statistics Conference that was held on February 16-17, 2012 at Diamond Hotel in Manila. Dauis ranked first in the advanced statistics category. This recognition qualified MPDC Ma. Mercedes Salinas, who presented a report during the first day of the conference, to participate in an Asian study tour. Funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the program was jointly implemented by JICA and the Departments of Tourism (DOT) and Interior and Local Government (DILG). Despite being implemented only in Palawan and in the provinces of Western and Central Visayas, the program will be replicated in the other LGUs of the country. Representing Bohol in the conference were Ms. Josephine R. Cabarrus, head of the Bohol Tourism Office; the municipal tourism action officer and representative of the Municipal Planning and Development Office of each of the four implementing LGUs, namely, Danao, Jagna, Loon and Dauis; and a representative from Bohol Plaza.

JICA and DOST also invited one representative from each of the LGUs of Buenavista, Carmen, Sierra Bullones and Tagbilaran that participated in the basic statistics part of the project. The conference, which was also attended by representatives from all the other regions of the country, served as the program’s culminating activity. Gov. Edgar M. Chatto, who was invited to share his insights with the conference participants, had his message read by Cabarrus. The governor thanked the DOT and JICA for the opportunity they gave to the tourism officers and planners of Bohol and stressed the major contribution of high-quality data to the overall role of the tourism industry in global growth and development. He also said that investors rely on tourism statistics for decision-making and financial proposals, evaluating the performance of or justifying investments, monitoring the implementation of government policies, building partnerships with service providers, and many other activities. During the life of the program, the participating LGUs underwent workshops and mentoring sessions on basic tourism statistics, advanced tourism statistics, and tourism development planning. The adoption by the LGUs and DOT regional offices of the standard local tourism statistics system is envisioned to provide the platform for the Philippines to standardize its local tourism data collection and reporting in accordance with international norms and practices. (RPM)