Promote local food culture, DOT asked

Instead of promoting foreign food, which already costs the government a hefty amount for a three-day congress every year, the Network of Independent Travel Agents (Nitas) is urging the Department of Tourism (DOT) to reallocate the funds to promote the local food sector.

In a recent meeting with newly appointed Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Nitas chairman Consul Robert Lim Joseph asked the agency to closely review the Madrid Fusión Manila and assess whether the program has been bringing tourism arrivals and receipts to the country.

Madrid Fusión Manila is the first and only Asian edition of Madrid Fusión, reportedly the most important gastronomy event in the world, celebrated annually in Spain since 2003.

Madrid Fusión Manila had its third run last year. Recently, the DOT announced it is moving the fourth edition to April next year.

Joseph said the Madrid Fusión Manila, which started during the time of former tourism secretary Ramon Jimenez, has an annual budget of P120 million and its contract is reportedly locked for five years.

According to Joseph, instead of spending the government’s money for a three-day event promoting foreign food, the DOT should make use of the money to promote the richness of the country’s culinary culture.

“The brand itself doesn’t promote and explain the food culture of the Philippines. We need to promote our own food,” he said, adding that the agency could capitalize on the country’s colorful festivals to hype up the program.

Instead of promoting foreign chefs, Joseph said, organizers should engage the country’s best chefs for a food challenge and bring them along to DOT’s marketing road shows abroad.

“This way, they’ll get to meet foreign chefs and at the same time get the country good (media) mileage,” he said. “We now have a return of investment.”

But Puyat, in reports, stressed that the previous editions of Madrid Fusion Manila effectively promoted Filipino cuisine and products and the event solely focused on Spanish culture.

She said she had 15 Filipino chefs who volunteered every day for the three-day event during her stint in the Department of Agriculture, where she was an undersecretary.

The tourism secretary, however, promised she will look into all programs that the DOT has embarked on, said Joseph.

This was reinforced by Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr., during his visit to Cebu, when he said the new leadership of DOT will review the National Tourism Development Plan.

“We have to look out for which programs we can continue, we can build on and those that we can tweak or discard altogether,” he said.