Durano hopes new DOT chief continues support for LGUs

CEBU, Philippines - To sustain the robust growth of tourism in the Philippines, the former tourism chief wishes for the new Department of Tourism secretary Alberto Lim, to continue supporting the Local Government Units (LGUs) to create demand for tourists.

 “LGUs should create the demand, not the other way around. Private investors would only come if the demand is there already. LGUs should start the gear running to promote tourism-related products and services in their respective locality and initiate investments,” Durano said.

Prior to his appointment as DOT secretary, Durano said the world, or the Philippines only knew key tourism destinations in the Philippines, “there were only Manila, Cebu and Boracay.”

Now, Durano said foreign or domestic tourists alike can choose a wide array of destinations, as well as type of tourism activities they may want to explore in the Philippines.

“We started the promotion of small pocket-development across the country,” Durano said adding that his biggest achievement as DOT chief in the five-year service is achieving the triple growth in the tourism sector in the country.

Durano was appointed as DOT chief in 2005, under the Gloria Arroyo administration.

Putting modesty aside, he said that prior to his leadership in the tourism department, the Philippines tourists’ traffic only achieved slightly over a P1 million figure.

Today, the tourists’ traffic in the Philippines hit 10 million in average. Likewise, tourism investments registered at P600 billion (worth of projects) in five years, “from zero-investment prior to 2005.”

“There is a huge potential to be maximized in the eco-tourism sector. LGUs will play a very critical role in this model,” Durano said.

He reiterated that the next DOT secretary should recognize the “wealth” of tourism in the countryside that will bring more revenue for the country, most specifically to the rural communities.

Makati Business Club (MBC) Director Alberto Lim joined the Benigno “NoyNoy” Aquino III’s cabinet as DOT secretary recently.

“The position offered presents a unique opportunity to develop tourism as a major engine for growth, providing jobs in the countryside, and helping reduce poverty,” Lim said in an earlier report.

“I will invite MBC to be active together with other business groups and non-government organizations in making government much more accountable to the Filipino people than it has been in the current administration,” Lim added.

It was also Lim who founded the Palawan Tourism Council, which is responsible for Palawan’s rise as a veritable tourist destination.

Lim also founded the El Nido Foundation, which was responsible for the El Nido Protected Area Management Board that helps people in communities improve their way of living.

He also spearheaded the Corporate Network for Disaster Response after Indonesia’s 7.2 earthquakes in 1990 sent tsunamis to surrounding islands.

Lim is likewise the co-founder of the Freedom to Fly Coalition, which advocated an open-skies policy as a strategy to promote economic development.