Cebuano youth join summit to support sustainable tourism

Some 350 youth leaders from across Cebu committed to support sustainable and responsible tourism during the Cebu Youth Tourism Summit held last Tuesday to celebrate the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

The summit participants, who were students from selected schools and youths endorsed by the different tourism offices of Cebu towns and component cities, signed a manifesto where they promised to “commit to mainstreaming sustainable tourism development in eliminating poverty and ensure the protection and conservation of our natural and cultural environment.”

“Sustainable tourism is the model by which all kinds of tourism are patterned after and the standard by which all kinds of tourism are measured against. Sustainable implies a commitment by the tourist to making a low impact on the surrounding environment and local culture, while making a high impact on the immediate community and income generation,” Provincial Tourism Officer Boboi Costas said.

Costas said the speakers at the summiit, including those from outside Cebu, were especially impressed with how seriously the youth tackled the issues confronting the tourism industry that they discussed and identified solutions for.

The event was spearheaded by the Cebu Provincial Tourism Office.

In the manifesto, the youth pledged to develop partnerships between international, government, nongovernment organizations and the private sector with a shared vision and an integrated approach of poverty alleviation through tourism. “We commit to ensure that tourism development strategies focus on more equitable distribution of wealth and services,” they said.

“We will focus our efforts at the local destinations within the framework of national policies… (and) create opportunities which empower and enable local communities to have access to information and to influence and take decisions,” they added.

They likewise pledged to “remove all forms of discrimination against people working or seeking to work in tourism and eliminate any exploitation, particularly against women and children”, as well as “commit to plan and apply resources for tourism sustainability.”

Vice Governor Agnes Magpale said the promotion of sustainable tourism will make Cebu more progressive.

“Indeed, tourism is an economic driver. For every tourist who would come, so many people would benefit. There is the transportation sector from airline to buses, hotels that hired several workers, and even printers who make brochures,” Magpale said.

Magpale said that luckily for Cebu, “we are the number one destination outside of Metro Manila. We have kept that place, but we need to be sustainable.”