Tr

uly

, to

en

joy

you

r va

cati

on y

ou

hav

e to

en

joy

the

cro

wd

, th

e cu

l-tu

re o

f th

e p

eop

le a

nd

of c

ours

e, th

e fo

od

s in

th

e ar

ea y

ou a

re v

isit

ing.

“Th

at i

s h

ow

com

mu

nit

y-b

ased

ru

ral

tou

rism

sh

ould

be,

” sa

ys f

orm

er t

ouri

sm

secr

eta

ry a

nd

Su

bic

-bas

ed I

nte

rnat

ion

al

Sch

ool

of S

ust

ain

able

Tou

rism

(IS

ST

) ch

air-

per

son

Min

a G

abor

.

Gab

or,

in c

olla

bor

atio

n w

ith

th

e A

sian

Pr

od

uct

ivit

y O

rgan

izat

ion

(APO

), th

e D

evel

-op

men

t A

cad

emy

of t

he

Phil

ipp

ines

(D

AP)

, an

d th

e D

epar

tmen

t of T

ouri

sm, r

ecen

tly

or-

gan

ized

the

thre

e-d

ay N

atio

nal

Con

fere

nce

on

Pla

nn

ing

and

Dev

elop

ing

Com

mu

nit

y-B

ased

ru

ral

Tou

rism

hel

d a

t th

e Su

bic

Bay

E

xh

ibit

ion

an

d C

onve

nti

on C

ente

r (S

BEC

C).

G

abor

sai

d t

he

con

fere

nce

aim

ed t

o en

-h

ance

the

kn

owle

dge

of l

oca

l tou

rism

sta

ke-

hol

der

s on

th

e co

nce

pt o

f ru

ral t

ouri

sm a

s a

stra

teg

y to

cre

ate

econ

omic

op

por

tun

itie

s in

th

e ru

ral a

reas

.

Gab

or s

aid

the

con

fere

nce

iden

tifi

ed h

ow

to p

rom

ote

and

en

cou

rage

loca

l com

mu

nit

y su

pp

ort

thro

ugh

com

mu

nit

y-b

ased

ru

ral

tou

rism

(C

Br

T) w

hic

h c

ould

be

a b

ig b

oo

st

to lo

cal e

con

omie

s.

T

he

con

fere

nce

als

o sh

ow

case

d a

ssor

t-m

ent o

f lo

cal f

oo

d d

elic

acie

s fr

om d

iffe

ren

t p

rov

ince

s li

ke

Mor

con

an

d S

isig

Pam

pan

ga,

lum

pia

Bac

olo

d a

nd

Inas

al n

a M

anok

, Bag

-n

et Il

ocu

s, B

arb

aco

a an

d H

um

ba

of V

isay

as

and

a lo

t mor

e d

elec

tabl

e Fi

lip

ino

food

wh

ich

to

uri

sts

wou

ld s

ure

ly e

njo

y.

Gab

or n

arra

ted

th

at i

n 2

007,

an

ico

n i

n

info

rmat

ion

tec

hn

olog

y to

ok h

is b

ack

pac

k an

d w

ent

to h

is h

ome

in S

outh

Afr

ica

and

im

mer

sed

him

self

in th

e co

mm

un

ity,

dan

c-in

g an

d e

atin

g w

ith

th

e p

eop

le.

O

n h

is r

etu

rn t

o A

mer

ica

he

said

, “T

his

is

th

e w

ay t

ouri

sm s

hou

ld b

e d

evel

oped

to

enjo

y yo

ur

trav

el i

n d

iffe

ren

t co

un

trie

s.”

Th

e m

an,

Gab

or c

onti

nu

ed,

was

Mic

roso

ft

fou

nd

er B

ill G

ates

.

Du

rin

g th

e co

nfe

ren

ce,

Tou

rism

Sec

re-

tary

Alb

erto

lim

vo

wed

to

giv

e m

ore

atte

n-

tion

to ru

ral t

ouri

st d

esti

nat

ion

s, a

s lo

cal e

x-ec

uti

ves

and

tou

rism

sta

keh

old

ers

arou

nd

th

e co

un

try

con

veye

d t

hei

r su

pp

ort

to t

he

gov

ern

men

t’s

pro

gra

m o

n c

om

mu

nit

y-b

ased

tou

rism

par

ticu

larl

y in

ru

ral a

reas

.

Ad

dre

ssin

g m

ore

than

600

go

vern

ors,

m

ayor

s an

d lo

cal t

ouri

sm o

ffice

rs l

im s

aid

th

at P

resi

den

t B

enig

no

Aq

uin

o II

I is

pu

t-ti

ng

tou

rism

on

top

of

his

age

nd

a b

ecau

se

of t

he

pot

enti

al o

f th

e in

du

stry

to

hel

p r

e-d

uce

po

vert

y.

“W

e ar

e go

ing

to b

uil

d a

lot

of e

mp

has

is

on p

rod

uct

dev

elop

men

t in

th

e ru

ral a

reas

w

her

e p

ove

rty

is i

n t

he

hig

hes

t (l

evel

s),”

li

m s

aid

.

lim

sai

d t

hat

ove

r th

e ye

ars,

th

e D

oT

has

gra

nte

d s

ome

P55

mil

lion

to

abou

t 12

3 ru

ral c

omm

un

itie

s to

hel

p d

evel

op a

nd

im-

pro

ve in

dig

enou

s to

uri

sm p

rod

uct

s an

d fa

-ci

liti

es, a

s w

ell a

s fo

r tr

ain

ings

on

tou

r an

d

trek

gu

idin

g, n

ativ

e cr

aft m

akin

g, a

nd

loca

l fo

od

cat

erin

g.

T

he

fun

d w

as

gra

nte

d t

hro

ug

h t

he

Gra

ssro

ots

Entr

epre

neu

rs E

mp

loy

men

t an

d

Tou

rism

(G

rEE

T)

pro

gra

m,

wh

ich

aim

s to

ge

ner

ate

emp

loy

men

t an

d l

ivel

iho

od

wit

h

bal

ance

d e

colo

gy

and

en

vir

onm

enta

l p

ro-

tect

ion

to

pro

mot

e ec

o-t

ouri

sm s

ites

an

d

dev

elop

tou

rism

at

the

com

mu

nit

y le

vel.

Base

d on

the

rep

ort o

f th

e N

atio

nal

Sta

tist

ics

Offi

ce, l

im s

aid

that

alt

hou

gh t

he

tou

rism

in-

dust

ry ra

nks

nu

mbe

r fou

r as

fore

ign

exc

han

ge

earn

er, i

t is

now

nu

mbe

r on

e in

cre

atin

g jo

bs.

“T

hes

e jo

bs

are

job

s in

th

e ru

ral

area

s,

wh

ere

mo

st o

f ou

r m

ost

bea

uti

ful

attr

ac-

tion

s ca

n b

e fo

un

d,”

lim

ad

ded

.

ww

w.n

ewsc

entr

als

ite.

com

feb

ru

ary

2011

Subic

Cen

tral

Cen

tral

New

sSpec

ial

Su

pple

men

t

Subic

Cen

tral

Arr

ezA

: ‘A

cu

ltu

re

of

ho

nes

ty

An

d

effi

cie

nc

y f

or

subi

c’

subi

c co

nfa

b ba

res

tast

e of

ru

ral t

ouri

sm

Form

er t

ouri

sm s

ecre

tary

an

d Su

bic-

base

d In

tern

atio

nal

Sch

ool

of S

ust

ain

able

T

ouri

sm c

hai

rper

son

Min

a G

abor