ILOILO City celebrates tourism month with six events this September. It’s no heavy load for people who have the passion to make Iloilo City become a prime destination – a place to feel good, to be pampered with food prepared fresh, and where people are friendly and warm.

With the devolution of the tourism function as mandated by the new local government code, the promotion of local tourism now rests in the shoulder of the local government unit. With DOT concentrating on the promotion of the whole country by way of highlighting the eight places – Vigan and Laoag, Baguio, Metro Manila, Palawan, Cebu, Bohol, Davao, and Zamboanga, it is imperative for Iloilo City to work hard for it to be noticed, heard, known, and visited. With some unavoidable occurrence such as Frank, there is a lot of catching up to do.

September 27 is World Tourism Day as celebrated by the World Tourism Organization. According to the Wikipedia, “The purpose of this day is to display awareness that tourism is vital to the international community and to show how it affects the social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide. September 27 is important since on that day in 1970, the Statutes of the WTO were adopted. The adoption of the statutes is considered to be a milestone in global tourism.”

As of 2007, its membership included 150 countries, seven territories and some 350 affiliate members, representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities. The frequent confusion between the two WTOs – World Tourism Organization and the Geneva-based World Trade Organization – officially ended on 1 December 2005, when the General Assembly approved to add the letters UN (for United Nations) to the start of abbreviation of the leading international tourism body in English and in Russian. UNWTO abbreviation remains OMT in French and Spanish.

The Philippines, being one of UNWTO members celebrates the milestone not just in a day but modifies it for one month, declaring the whole of September as Tourism Month. For the first time, Iloilo City observes tourism month with several activities. In the pipeline are the Goodwill Tour Guiding Seminar, Tourism Photo Exhibition, Tourism Interschool Quiz Bee, Iloilo City Tourism Commission (ICTC) Strategic Planning Workshop, Dinagyang Consensus Forum, and the participation of Iloilo City in the Philippine Travel Mart (PTM).

The tour guiding seminar shall be conducted in cooperation with Department of Tourism Region 6 and the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) Committee on Tourism. The target participants are tourism personnel of the member-LGUs of MIGEDC with the majority coming from the Iloilo City Tourism & Development Office. The seminar shall allow participants to learn basic tour guiding techniques and give them necessary historical background of the city’s attractions. Venue is the conference room at the second floor of DOT 6 on 18-19 September.

Tourism Photo Exhibition shall be at SM City Iloilo running from 22 September to 5 October 2008. Photos of the various festivities in Iloilo, tourism projects such as Santacruzan sa Flores de Mayo, Semana Santa sa Iloilo kag Guimaras, Pretty Plaza Banwa Guapa, Banda Musika sa Plaza shall be displayed for public viewing during mall hours. Exhibition extends until the scheduled national convention of tourism officers to enable the visitors to have a glimpse of tourism activities in the metropolis.

The quiz bee is in collaboration with the Iloilo City Hall Press Corps, DOT 6, and SM City Iloilo. Students taking up tourism-related courses in the Iloilo City schools are going to compete in the question-and-answer game show to be held at the activity center of the mall on 17 September. Prizes await the winners.

The newly constituted tourism commission shall undertake strategic planning sessions to capacitate the advisory body of its role in tourism development. Appointed chairman is Councilor Armand Parcon, chair of the SP Committee on Culture and Trade. Six commissioners were likewise picked: Atty. Helen Camarista-Catalbas, Asst. Director of DOT 6; Mr. Edgar Sia, President of Mang Inasal Philippines and the Iloilo Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB); Mr. Francis Gentoral, Area Manager for Asia of the Canadian Urban Institute; Mr. Robert Ferrer, President of IHRRA; Mr. Juancho Demaguila, Iloilo Manager of PAL; and Mr. Ricardo Andrada, AVP of Passi Sugar. City Tourism Officer Ben Jimena is Executive Director.

The consensus forum for Dinagyang is designed to gather together all the participating group managers and choreographers and other people who have interest in the festival. The one-day program at the Iloilo Grand Hotel on Sunday, 21 September includes the festival backgrounder, evolution of the Dinagyang dance, its religious roots, and folk choreography. There will be break out sessions in the afternoon to accommodate the concerns of the Kasadyahan groups. The Rotary Club of Iloilo which takes care of the judging, tabulation, and tribes functions has invited speakers for the forum. It is expected that the gathering will clearly bring out what the Dinagyang dance performance is all about.

DOT 6 will bring to the Philippine Travel Mart (PTM) the “balay nga bato”, an old stone house – massive adobe slab posts, capiz shelled windows and brick roof to display the “attractions” of Western Visayas. Each province and highly urbanized city is assigned with a 2m x 3m space to house its promotional materials. Iloilo City with the assistance of ICVB and IHRRA is putting up a console stand with design of its festivals and heritage lures. Dagoy dolls and other souvenir items will be sold and brochures will be distributed to the public. The PTM is at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City on 12-14 September.

Six events in September to celebrate tourism is indeed a lot for the personnel of the City Tourism and Development Office. Most of them are at first, overwhelmed by the task at hand; but little by little as the tasks are laid down for discussion, what seemed to be an enormous endeavor is becoming just a set of simple chores. Good luck guys!

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