Capitol to host tourism summit

CEBU, Philippines - A tourism summit spearheaded by the Cebu Provincial Tourism Office (CPTO) will be held at the SM Seaside City tomorrow.

At least 300 tourism policymakers are expected to join the activity dubbed as “DETOUR.”

 Provincial tourism officer Joselito Costas said summit participants will discuss issues hounding the sustainability of tourism development in Cebu and to propose long term solutions.

“Tourism is there to stay. The head of office may come and go. So, we have to make tourism sustainable,” Costas said during the AGIO-7 forum yesterday.

Costas said that Cebu as an island destination has a lot of issues such as dependence on tourism, fragile ecosystems, limited geography and resources and complexities of planning, development and management. He said that these complexities give rise to a multitude of other issues.

DETOUR, which is short for development, environment and tourism, carries the theme “Disrupting Cebu’s tourism: Taking the route to sustainability.”

“DETOUR is a response to United Nation’s call to harness sustainable tourism for development. It is also a prelude to the Island Tourism Forum to be held in Cebu in September this year,” said Costas in a press statement.

The CPTO is one with the UN World Tourism Organization in celebrating 2017 as international year of sustainable tourism for development. (FREEMAN)