GENDER SENSITIVE TOURISM. Participants of the gender sensitivity seminar for Department of Tourism-trained and accredited tour guides in Negros Occidental with the resource speaker and provincial tourism executives after the training held in Bacolod City on Nov. 7 and 8. The provincial government is advocating a more gender-responsive policy and practices for progressive tourism industry. (Photo courtesy of Negros Occidental Tourism Division)
BACOLOD CITY -- The Negros Occidental provincial government is advocating more gender-responsive policy and practices in its bid to develop a progressive tourism industry.
Provincial Supervising Tourism Operations Officer Cristine Mansinares on Monday said part of the continuing training of the province’s accredited tour guides is on gender sensitivity.
“We are pushing for a tourism industry that is inclusive and resilient,” she added.
Last week, 25 tour guides attended a two-day training with the Department of Tourism-Western Visayas (DOT-6), in partnership with the Negros Occidental Tourism Division (NOTD), focusing on basic gender and development (GAD) concepts, gender mainstreaming, and GAD-related laws.
Mansinares said the seminar was conducted under the DOT’s Tourism Industry Skills Program (TISP) that aims to reduce skills gap and improve service levels, standard, and management.
Before this, the DOT-6 and the NOTD also conducted the barrier-free tourism seminar for industry's frontline service providers to encourage inclusivity and accessibility for persons with disabilities.
In 2018, tourist arrivals in Negros Occidental, including its capital Bacolod City, hit almost 1.76 million, which was 2 percent higher than the 1.72 million visitors recorded in 2017.
The Negros Occidental Provincial Tourism Planning Committee is currently updating the province’s tourism development plan with the assistance of DOT-6.
The tourism development plan is a pre-requisite in a joint memorandum of the DOT and Department of Public Works and Highways on Tourism Road Infrastructure Project. (PNA)
