Guv leads Cebu delegation to tourism forum in Malaysia

Governor Gwen Garcia led five other Cebu delegates in representing the country to the 2006 East Asia Tourism Forum, which will be held at the Sarawak State in eastern Malaysia starting today until Saturday.

The EATOF is a voluntary, self-financing institution the primary goal of which has been to promote inter-provincial tourism cooperation among different countries around the region. It is composed of nine founding members, including Cebu Province of the Philippines.

The other eight are Chiang Mai Province of Thailand, Gangwon-Do Province (Korea), Jilin Province (China), Primorsky Territory (Russia), Sarawak Province (Malaysia), Tottori Prefecture (Japan), Tuv Province (Mongolia), and Yogyakarta Special Province (Indonesia).

Aside from these nine founding members, two other countries, Vietnam and Hong Kong are also sending delegations to the EATOF although these are yet to be full members, according to Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency.

Governor Garcia said Singapore, which participated as an observer in the 2005 EATOF held at Jilin Province in China, had also conveyed its interest to be a member of the institution.

The site of the annual EATOF meeting is rotated among its members, which are represented by senior delegates from academe, tourism, and business people with the lead official of either the provincial governor or vice governor.

Together with Garcia for this year's Cebu delegation are Provincial Board Members Agnes Magpale, Jose Mari Gastardo, Carmiano Kintanar and Victor Maambong, and academe member Mila Espina.

Espina, who is also from the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was included in the group to make a presentation of the Suroy-Suroy Sugbu program of the governor.

"She will be presenting the unique Suroy-Suroy Sugbu to the member provinces for them to get pointers on how to spread the benefits of tourism throughout the entire province and not just to be concentrated in urban areas," Garcia said yesterday before leaving for Sarawak, Indonesia.

The delegates will converge in Sibu town of Sarawak, Malaysia for the EATOF and discuss ways of drawing more tourists to member countries, said Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh, Sarawak minister for urban development and tourism, in a press statement.

Governor Garcia, for her part, said among the provisional agenda is the setting up of a permanent EATOF secretariat, and the proposed amendment in its constitution, particularly on membership criteria to allow other interested countries.

"Certainly, we would be very glad to host the next summit if the member provinces agree, especially that, by then, we will already have the Cebu International Convention Center," Garcia said. - Cristina C. Birondo