The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) has launched a nationwide
campaign to incentivise tourism development among cities and
municipalities.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco unveiled the Tourism
Champions Challenge at the recent League of Municipalities of the
Philippines (LMP) General Assembly in Manila, urging the 1,400 LMP
members to propose tourism projects to spur economic development across
the country’s regions.
“Through the Tourism Challenge, we are inviting over 1,400 municipal
mayors and over 100 city mayors to propose any tourism project that is
in line with the seven-point tourism agenda of the administration,”
Frasco said. The goal of this programme is to stimulate tourism
development among cities and municipalities so that tourism projects can
drive economic growth across the country.
To entice mayors, municipalities and cities to join the tourism
champions challenge, the DOT is allocating P180 million (US$3.27
million) to the Tourism Champions Challenge. A project committee will
evaluate and pick the five best proposals from Luzon, the Visayas and
Mindanao.
The first LGU (local government unit) will get P20 million worth of
tourism projects; the second will have P15 million; the third will have
P10 million; the fourth will have P8 million; and the fifth will have P7
million, revealed Frasco.
The funds for this programme will be sourced from the Tourism
Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), and the DOT will
receive proposals starting March until May 2023.