Archipreneur launches farm tourism venture

CEBU, Philippines — Despite difficult times in tourism, Cebuana archipreneur Daryl S. Garcia opened a farm destination to promote sustainable and organic living.

Garcia, who owns Dream Architects company, has decided to build the 1.8 hectare Azienda Gracia in 2020 at the onset of the pandemic-induced lockdowns in Cebu in March last year.

“When the lockdown was announced we brought the family to Barangay Guba, Cebu away from the rising Covid-19 cases,” Garcia related.

The family spent almost the entire year of 2020 to tend the farm, initially to plant ornamentals, herbs, trees, as well as livestock raising for the family’s needs.

However, Garcia said after the family benefited from the farm’s produce and its cleaner environment, she also wanted to share the property to others, thus the launch of its farm tourism venture, although ultra-exclusive.

The farm’s tree house can only accommodate 30 people for an intimate event, including tent accommodations.

Garcia is also holding occasional seminars on organic farming and taking care of nature.

The Department of Tourism (DOT-7) announced recently that it will lead the promotion of mountain destinations, including farms in Cebu City noting the rising interest of people going uphill to de-stress.

DOT-7 regional director Shalimar Tamano said that Cebu City has good mountainous sites that attract local tourists, even out of towners, and these should be developed to prepare for the upsurge of visitors.

“Cebuanos know that it is safer to go to the mountains to unwind or relax. The air is clean and fresh,” Tamano said.

Aside from plain sight seeing or plant shopping, tourism stakeholders in Cebu are also working on developing more outdoor activities such as  mountain climbing, and trekking, among others.

Part of Azienda Gracia’s attraction, aside from organic food menus, wherein everything is sourced from the farm, is trekking to barangay Guba’s “Sayaw” waterfalls.

Today, the farm has gained interest from local market via its presence in airBnB, Garcia said adding that because of the positive market response, she is planning to expand the accommodation facilities by building more farm cottages.

A big portion of the farm is dedicated for vegetables, herbs, plants and flowers. Garcia is employing local residents to help the family maintain the farm. Younger residents also are trained to assists visitors to trekking activities.

The farm also has free-range chickens, ducks and around 300 rabbits. It is powered by solar panels.

Taking into consideration the market’s shift to live and eat healthy, Garcia said the farm-to-table experience is something the farm is proud of.

“This pandemic has taught us a lot of things. One of them is to take care of our health,” she added.

The award-winning architect, who is responsible in building iconic buildings in Cebu including the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints (LDS) building in Lahug, the 40-storey JTower, Jpark Island Waterpark and Hotel, Minglanilla Highlands, among others, said that unlike any venture, developing a farm is less expensive, but it provides a sense of purpose and meaningful affair with simple living.

A year after, the farm has now a collection of native and rare species of trees such as mangkono or Philippine ironwood and world’s most expensive tree, the lapnisan or agarwood, among others.

The DOT national office has been urging Cebu tourism stakeholders once again to push the promotion of farm and nature-based tourism.

According to Rowena Montecillo, DOT director for office of Industry Manpower Development, the agency is now pushing for the promotion of more farms and nature-based destinations in the country and Cebu should take advantage of this.