by Claire R. Gigje
MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA)–Some 40 local tourism officers and stakeholders in Lanao del Sur province have undergone a weeklong training on basic statistics and formulating a tourism development plan (TDP).
This was initiated by the provincial government through its Provincial Tourism Office and in partnership with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism (MTIT) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) as part of their goal of giving a boost to the tourism sector.
Provincial Tourism Officer Ahmad Nouraldinn Tamano Jr. said they conducted the activity to guarantee that tourists who would come over to their place would enjoy quality service.
He stated that this also highlighted the essence of monitoring the number of visiting tourists, especially since this could affect the province in general.
“Kinakacapacitate natin ang ating tourism officers para mabigay natin ang magandang serbisyo sa mga bisita natin. Dapat data-driven ang ating tourism sector para maintindihan ng ating local chief executives (LCEs) kung gaano ito kaimportante at paano nito maiangat ang economy ng province of Lanao del Sur,” said Tamano.
(We are training our tourism officers to give our visitors a good service. Our tourism sector should be data-driven so that local chief executives (LCEs) will understand how important this is and how this can pull the economy of the province of Lanao del Sur up)
Participating local tourism officers and stakeholders from different municipalities in Lanao del Sur listen intently to the discussions as they undergo the weeklong training on basic statistics and the formulation of a local tourism development plan. (CRG/PIA-10/Lanao del Sur)
The provincial tourism officer detailed that during the training, participants were taught how to tally the arrivals of tourists in each municipality and the whole province and the steps on how to craft their respective TDP, which is mandated to be formulated by each local government unit.
He added that the activity also discussed the formulas to be used to get the average number of tourist arrivals every month.
MTIT-Lanao del Sur Senior Tourism Operations Officer Prince Shoudery Galo emphasized that all the subjects discussed were vital, as through them, participants were able to understand the concept of development planning for the tourism sector and learn how to use the DOT guidebook.
He stated that this was another way to urge the municipal government of the province to formulate their own TDP, considering that only Butig Town has one at the moment.
“We are looking forward na magkaroon ng tourism development plan ang ibang LGUs na wala pa (that other LGUs will have the tourism development plan) after this training,” said Galo.
DOT Tourism Development Planning Division OIC Chief Ramil Basuel, on the other hand, was hopeful that the training would be beneficial to the objective of the province, which is to bolster its tourism industry.
“I am positive na (that) given their commitment now, in addition to their interest and excitement to implement, I know that the training will have a positive result sa kanila (to them),” he said. (CRG/PIA-10/Lanao del Sur)
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