Marikina to hold ‘Culture of Tourism’ workshop

MARIKINA City – Mayor Marides C. Fernando yesterday said the city government will conduct a “Culture of Tourism” conference and workshop for the city’s barangay officials, kagawad and other executive officials of the municipality early January next year at the Teatro Marikina as one way of boosting economic opportunities in Marikina. Selected high school students from all barangays in the city are invited to attend as registration fees have been waived.

She said the educational and training program of barangay officials and the youth (representing the future tourism stakeholders) in the city to bolster the tourism’s contribution to Marikina’s prosperity.

Mayor Fernando said the confidence-building in the lowest level of governance is imperative if Marikina were to reap the value, purposes, and advantages of local government autonomy, adding that local government units should stop relying on the initiatives of the national government to achieve progress in their communities.

“We value and understand the economic benefits of tourism in the city. This is why we want to sustain our drive in enhancing all the facets of tourism in the city, natural or contrived,” Fernando said, adding that her work to push tourism would not only benefit the present generation but the next set of Marikina residents as well.

Mario Villanueva, tourism officer of the city, disclosed that Marikina hosts busloads of students every day from various provinces and as far as Laoag who came to see how well-ran the city is.

He pointed out that students and their teachers visit Marikina because they would like to see how the city government has successfully transformed the once dirty and crowded suburban town into what is today a clean, well-managed and prosperous city.

To enhance this label of Marikina, the Metrobank Foundation, for example, has cited Marikina this year under Mayor Fernando as the “Most Livable City in Metro Manila”, Villanueva pointed out.

The tourism educational program has been developed by the Travel Cooperative of the Philippines (TCP) and the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS) as their response to the widespread concern that local governance should be proactive and must initiate tourism promotions instead of just waiting for the first step from the national government.

TCP and NAITAS believe that the failure of the national government in sustaining economic growth in tourism is the missing and pivotal link of local government units in promoting the country’s tourism industry.

TCP and NAITAS had successfully conducted the pilot Culture of Tourism Conference and Workshop recently in Bacolod City with Negros Occidental provincial government as co-organizer and host. The two tourism trade bodies are now into offering the educational program free of charge to mayors and governors nationwide with Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office as main sponsor.

[ Shoe Museum Wiki ]