Tourism experts assess Jagna tour-stat system

AS pilot Local Government Unit (LGUs) of Bohol in the implementation of the Tourism Statistics System of the Department of Tourism (DOT), a team from the DOT-Manila and Region VII dropped by Jagna for the mentoring session at the Capt. Goyo Caseñas Hall on Thursday.

The session which served as a follow through activity on the Tourism Statistics Training held in Subic Bay in October in 2006 was focused on the assessment on the LGU-Jagna's implementation and reporting system. This refers to the tourism data gathering based on tourism indicators. These were collected from the existing accommodation establishments in the municipality after which recommendations were also made.

Tourism indicators including volume of international and domestic travelers, average length of stay of visitors, average and major items of expenditures, occupancy rate, number of accommodation establishments, number of rooms and employment status are requisites to the development of a database of tourist accommodation facilities in major tourist destinations in Bohol . This will be a baseline information on the existing room capacity and need for expansions.

Further the said data, will be used not only by the foreign and domestic tourists visiting Jagna but also by the private sector and the LGU to prepare appropriate policies, plans and programs to support tourism development. The DOT Team was headed by Tourism Development Planning Division Chief of DOT-Manila Ms. Milagros Say and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) representative Mr. Tadashe Kume together with DOT-Region VII Planning Officer Ms. Angeli Lapingcao and DOT-Manila Project Staff Ramil Basuel. The team was welcomed in behalf of Mayor Exuperio Lloren by Municipal Development Planning Coordinator Engr. Ronie Galabo, 5th SB Committee on Tourism Chairman Victorino Nayga Sr. and MPIO Catalino Berro.

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