UN Tourism has issued the Cebu Call to Action for resilient food tourism in Asia-Pacific to attract more tourists and bring socio-economic benefits to the people while proposing an international tourism school based in Cebu.
These took place in Cebu where UN Tourism held its first-ever Regional Gastronomy Tourism for Asia-Pacific, back to back with the 36th Joint Meeting of the UN Tourism Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the UN Tourism Commission for South Asia.
Sandra Carvao, UN Tourism market intelligence, policies and competitiveness director, identified 12 points of action for member countries to implement, among them developing comprehensive strategies at national, regional and local levels to integrate gastronomy tourism into policy formulation and practice; promoting culinary identity; and supporting small businesses to enhance their market position.
Meanwhile, UN Tourism secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili shared that there are ongoing discussions with Philippine tourism secretary Christina Garcia Frasco to have a UN-backed international tourism institute or academy that will include gastronomy and culinary training in Cebu, where Asian students can attend instead of travelling to culinary and tourism institutes in distant destinations.
Pololikashvili noted that UN Tourism has formed the Tourism Online Academy in 2019, in partnership with Spain’s IE University, and has now over 50 different products and courses on offer with an existing 28,000 students.
Part of the talks with UN Tourism is coming up with a framework to help Asia-Pacific countries attract more foreign investments in tourism this year or next even as the Philippines is already crafting a gastronomy roadmap with funds already allotted for it, Frasco disclosed.
Putting the spotlight on gastronomy tourism is a significant boon for halal tourism, which is proving to be in demand from the destination’s new source markets like the Middle East, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, said Myra Paz Valderrosa-Abubakar, Philippine tourism undersecretary for Muslim affairs and Mindanao promotions.
