Published on : Tuesday, May 1, 2018
More than a hundred bills and resolutions are pending in different committees in the House of Representatives for promoting the best tourist destinations in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. The lower chamber has also endorsed several tourism bills to the Senate for approval.
House Committee on Tourism Chairman Lucy Torres-Gomez of the Fourth District ofLeyte, however, said that the government must first safeguard these destinations from environmental issues by initiating several measures, including House Bill (HB) 7229, or the proposed “Philippine Sustainable Tourism Act.”
President Duterte earlier described Boracay, a resort island in the province of Aklan in Western Visayas, as a “cesspool.” Following that, he ordered the closure of Boracay, which attracts about 2 million tourists every year, for six months starting on April 26 for rehabilitation purposes.
Gomez said that sustainable tourism is no longer a choice but the new global phenomenon.
To quote Gomez, “The Philippine Sustainable Tourism Act will offer a paradigm shift from our old ways of doing business in the tourism industry. We must band together to protect the industry that has helped lift our country’s GDP growth.”
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (WTO) defines sustainable tourism as: “Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.”
Tags: Philippines