Iloilo local gov’t units urged to craft tourism plans

ILOILO CITY -- The Iloilo Provincial Tourism Office (PTO) encourages local government units (LGU) to have their own municipal tourism plans.

Gilbert Marin, provincial tourism officer, underscored on Wednesday the importance of the tourism plan in terms of municipalities’ promotion of local attractions.

“The tourism plan will serve as their ‘bible’, a template on their direction and promotion of the local tourism,” he said in an interview.

He said the tourism plan “is a very basic requirement of every municipality” as each sector must have its plans and programs.

“The LGUs had laid down its existing attractions but we are hopeful that they can soon craft their plans. What will happen next to these attractions will depend on the plan,” he said.

Marin estimated that around 20 out of the 43 LGUs in the province still don’t have their tourism plans.

Those which already have their tourism plans need to “revisit” their plans which include the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis.

The PTO last year already conducted tourism planning workshops, using the PTO tourism plan template to assist the LGUs in crafting their own, he said.

LGUs were also given their tourism manual by the Department of Tourism to guide them in the process of creating their plans.

Marin said one of the steps of the municipal tourism office is to gather all stakeholders, including the municipal mayor and head of different offices, “so that they would know their duties and responsibilities in the tourism sector.”

For municipal tourism offices, which find it hard to craft their tourism plans, Marin said the PTO is always ready and willing to help.

“They already have the manual or handbook and it will depend on them when to start using it. For us in the PTO, we are ready to assist them step-by-step,” he said. (PNA)