Sagada Tourism Summit set October 8 and 9

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA MOUNTAIN PROVINCE- A tourism  summit  to aid in legislation shall be held October 8 and 9 here at the Municipal Hall.  

Organized by  the  committee on  tourism of  the Sangguniang  Bayan, the two- day activity shall present a  draft  revised tourism code with inputs  gathered from  prior consultations with  representatives from inns and restaurants, transport, elders  and  tourist guides as early as March this year. 

Proposed amendments  to the tourism code include  rules  on  tourist guiding, packaged tours, business,  and the roles of the local government unit, barangays  and the community  among other proposed  rules on accreditation.

Too, a proposed  ordinance  regulating vehicles  of tourists and visitors  shall be presented during said  activity.   

Sangguniang tourism committee chairman Dave Gulian said inputs and comments from the participants shall form part of the making of the revised tourism code and ordinance regulating transport  before the year ends.

Representatives from sectors- tourist guides, business, transport, elders, church, local government unit(LGU),  and barangay  officials shall be attending  said summit. 

Keynote speaker is  former municipal mayor  Thomas Killip who shall be talking about  the beginnings  of tourism  in Sagada and tourism trends in the present and the future. 

Regional  Director Venus Tan of the  Department of Tourism is invited  to talk about accreditation of business establishments and other tourism trends.

Also  the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is invited to talk about the heritage law and do a critique on the proposed ordinance  making the Episcopal Church Mission Compound of Sagada a cultural and historical heritage  site.