Cultural Tourism under Spotlight, Endorsing Sustainable Development
Participants and hosts of the Policy Workshop: Cultural Tourism for Sustainable Development held in Jeju, 12-15 September 2017
BOOSTING of Sustainable Cultural Tourism in the Asia-Pacific region has been one of the main running focuses of SDG Agenda. With the help of partners, Jeju International Training Center (UNITAR CIFAL Jeju) which hosted 2017’s second Policy Workshop on Cultural Tourism, local government officials were given more opportunities, and minds were widely opened to the real potentials of their cities. Knowledge-sharing was the biggest part of the workshop, since all of the participants had their own time to interact with each other through the sessions, group works, presentations, and site visits. The participants were interested to transform their ideas by learning more about how they can create, implement, and protect not just the policies, but also the resources being produced in their cities in order to maintain and develop good quality and sustainable tourism. Having gained in-depth learning of the diverse relation of culture and tourism, many found the Cultural Tourism Workshop instructive as it came with numerous tools that they can use for the development and progress of their cities. This includes changing their perception of the city’s weaknesses into strengths. They also analyzed and related the additional knowledge that they
exchanged with the other participants as something they can use to address the different challenges that their cities are currently facing. Catbalogan City’s representative, Ador Hurtado said: “The policy workshop in Jeju, was a perfect opportunity for us to learn from the discussion and most importantly to network with other local governments in the Philippines and other Asia Pacific countries. It gave us a chance to learn from other cities’ best practices and gave us the avenue to facilitate a city-to-city partnership, which I have personally committed as submitted in our individual action plans. “ Although the participants considered all the sessions’ topics valuable, they still found certain topics as more relatable and important for their current situations, session topics like: Sustainable Cultural Tourism for Economic Development, Cultural Heritage Management for Sustainable Development, Monitoring and Evaluating Cultural Projects, Tourism Finance and Investment and Criteria for Awareness Raising and Policy-Making. As for Mayor Madelaine Alfelor – Gazmen, she found the Criteria for Awareness Raising and Policy-Making, explained by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) as the most useful and applicable for Iriga City, Philippines. Peter B. Lagyap, Tourism Officer of Iriga City, described his entire stay in Jeju Island as “an inspiring journey of loving one culture and preserving it, for in the end, it will give beneficial impact to the community and the economy… It is learning combined with bringing your voice on the international stage.” “What is your role?” The 3-days workshop addressed fundamental questions for the local leaders. What is your role in making your city develop a more sustainable culture and tourism? And what can you offer to make the city a better place to live in while protecting and preserving its cultural heritage and assets? It has made a meaningful impact by leaving an imprint to the participants who became aware and more knowledgeable of the different aspects of showcasing what they already have and what they should keep on improving to make the culture and tourism of their cities balanced and more beneficial to the natural habitats, and inhabitants of the city. prepared by: Shenen