TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco has instructed her department’s attached agencies to provide assistance to local governments on developing more parks and open spaces in line with efforts towards sustainable development for the industry.
“The Department of Tourism (DoT) extends its full support to the efforts of the national parks as well as our attached agencies to continue to develop the culture of tourism, which includes the continued development of our parks not only here in the National Capital Region but also all over the Philippines,” Ms. Frasco said during last week’s opening of the 1st Philippine Parks Congress at the Rizal Park in Manila.
She noted an earlier directive to agencies to reach out to local governments as well as the private sector “to provide continued opportunities for tourism product development.”
Among the DoT’s attached agencies are the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), Nayong Pilipino, and the Intramuros Administration.
Nayong Pilipino Foundation Executive Director Gertie Duran-Batocabe said parks and green spaces should become part of the “better normal.”
“As you all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered important conversations about the importance of urban green spaces and how those should be designed to benefit the health and well-being of the local population not just to promote sustainable development for our community, but also to attract tourists and enhance the tourism experience,” Ms. Batocabe said.
The DoT said urban park visitors have reached over three million from January to November 2022, an almost 50% increase from 1.5 million visitors in 2021, based on NPDC data.
NPDC Executive Director Cecille Lorenzana Romero, meanwhile, said they will also be lobbying for a law that will set up an agency focusing on parks and open spaces.
“While there’s still momentum and support for the development of more parks nationwide, now is also the time to push for legislation to create an authority for parks and open spaces that will be truly national in scope and can provide guidelines to our LGUs (local government units),” Ms. Romero said.
The 1st Philippine Parks Congress focused on urban areas, with the aim of jumpstarting the establishment of a national framework for the development of parks and green spaces. — MSJ
