Gwen to speak at Iloilo's 1st prov'l tourism summit

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia will be one of the seven speakers invited to the 1st Iloilo Provincial Tourism Summit to be held on July 12 and 13 at the Iloilo Grand Hotel along Iznart Street in Iloilo City.

Garcia, who recently conducted Cebu’s provincial tourism congress, will share some of her expertise in the tourism industry, along with another speaker Joy Bulauitan of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.

Provincial Tourism Officer Gilbert “Bombette” Marin said the event is seen as a milestone in the province’s tourism industry since “it will be the first time for us to sit with the private sector to discuss and formulate strategies on how to improve tourism promotion in the province.”

Marin said the summit will also be a venue for all the tourism stakeholders to reassess the existing provincial tourism plan.

One of the expected outputs is the finalization of the tour packages for the province, said Marin adding that the summit will just be the first step into attaining the goal of selling Iloilo province to tourists and investors.

Around 1,000 people from various sectors are set to participate in the summit, bearing the theme “Experience Iloilo First,” which will also gather municipal mayors and tourism officers, tour operators, tour guides, councilors who are tourism committee chairpersons, media practitioners and other stakeholders.

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor will welcome the guests to the event that will also be graced by Department of Tourism officer-in-charge Helen Catalbas. - THE FREEMAN