Phl to host 5th World Ecotourism Conference

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will host in November the 5th World Ecotourism Conference (WEC), one of the biggest global tourism events expected to be participated in by more than 300 foreign and local delegates.

Under the auspices of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the event, to be handled by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Discoverymice will be held at Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu on Nov. 13-15.

Relatedly, a soft launch of the updated Philippine National Ecotourism Strategy (NES) will be organized during the conference.

Organized by Discoverymice, an affiliate member of UNWTO, the conference is also an ambitious initiative to bring global ecotourism players together to network, collaborate and share their experiences, best practices and technologies for the advancement of nature conservation, environment protection, renewable energies, preservation of communities and their cultures, and consequently the advancement of ecotourism around the world.

A key objective of the WEC is to help and support host countries that are in need of a global platform to champion, position or support ecotourism policies and initiatives that will bring transformational changes for the improvement of their economies, people or environment.

Among the 55,000 islands in the oceans around the Asia and the Pacific region, there are many developing countries, including the Philippines, that are turning to promote their marine, coastal and riverine natural resources for ecotourism.

Instead of ever-exploiting marine resources, marine and coastal ecotourism provide excellent export opportunities for many developing countries especially small-island states.