The Department of Tourism (DOT) is crafting a national gastronomy tourism roadmap that will position unique Filipino dishes in each of the Philippine regions as a main motivation for local and foreign tourists when choosing where to travel.<\/p>\n
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco bared the proposed plan during the inaugural UN Tourism Regional Forum on Gastronomy Tourism for Asia and the Pacific in Cebu on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe view the time now as being ripe for Filipino food to be at the forefront of the top-of-mind destinations in the world for food tourism,\u201d she said, recognizing its potential not only in increasing arrivals but also in creating employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we understand that this also requires a whole-of-nation approach as well as a whole-of-government approach, which is why we are now in the process of drafting a Filipino gastronomy sustainable tourism roadmap,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Frasco said the roadmap will institutionalize government support for Philippine gastronomy and would cover efforts until 2029 once launched.<\/p>\n
The plan aims to protect the integrity of Filipino dishes and ensure that the government would also be able to provide support in terms of availability and quality of ingredients.<\/p>\n
Frasco, meanwhile, assured the public that the roadmap would be \u201cas inclusive as possible\u201d by featuring both popular and lesser-known Filipino dishes from all regions.<\/p>\n
\u201cA very specific example is the Mindanaoan cuisine which reflects our heritage in the pre-colonial Spanish times, and that has been carried out from generation to generation because of the efforts of our young chefs to ensure that it is not forgotten,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the same way, if you go to the hinterlands of Northern Luzon in the Cordilleras, you will find the food of our indigenous peoples that is also very well reflected in central Philippines, as well as in other parts of the country,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
At the forum, the DOT treated over 500 local and foreign delegates from more than 40 countries to a feast of local dishes from all over the Philippines.<\/p>\n
One of the regions featured there was Caraga that showcased the mudfish bacalao and chicharon pijanga, a native white goby that can only be found in the region\u2019s Lake Mainit.<\/p>\n
In a separate interview, DOT Caraga Region Director Ivonnie Dumadag said food tourism allows the region to showcase what it can offer other than its famed surfers-haven, Siargao Island.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaraga is popularly known for Siargao but this time we want to showcase that Caraga has more to offer beyond its waves,\u201d she told the Philippine News Agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe advantage of Caraga region is we are very rich in marine resources, and for foreigners, that really is their buy in. They would love to visit Caraga region because of the fresh marine products that we have not just in Siargao Island but also in the lesser-known destinations of Dinagat Island for example \u2014 it\u2019s enjoying the place and at the same time enjoying the food,\u201d she added. (PNA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Department of Tourism is spearheading efforts to showcase the richness of Filipino cuisine, making it a focal point for travelers exploring various regions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":256187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19578],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food"],"zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=256186"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256200,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256186\/revisions\/256200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/256187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=256186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=256186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=256186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}