As someone who has been at the forefront of advocating ecotourism in the Philippines since it was introduced in the country in 1991, I think I am in a good position to share how it influenced the development of tourism with focus on environmental protection in the Philippines.

The first DOT project officer for ecotourism in the Philippines

I used to work as a research officer of the Department of Tourism starting in 1989 doing a lot of field research on the existing and potential tourist attractions and destination. Our office’s output would then develop new tourism products that can be marketed mainly to the tourists.

The concept of ecotourism was introduced to the Philippines largely by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), an international organization of tourism bodies, an international non-government organization, Conservation International which advocated nature tourism (ecotourism) as a tool for environmental conservation. PATA encouraged the Philippines to join and be active in international ecotourism events starting in 1992, while Conservation International made it possible to collaborate with the Department of Tourism to mount a national event on ecotourism in early ‘90s.

I came in when my office director appointed me to be the project officer for ecotourism. That meant that I had to make lots of research and going to different places to share the concept of using tourism to help in saving the environment and local cultures. And as usually said, the rest is history. I even wrote the very first book on that has become a major reference for many advocates which was published in 1998.

It wasn’t an easy task, though, but highly fulfilling. Because of ecotourism, more people and lots of policy makers have realized the value of keeping nature intact while economically benefitting from it. Together with co-collaborators such as other government agencies and NGOs like the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, and local NGOs, we helped bring environmental awareness and save populations of whale sharks, dolphins, whales, mangroves, coral reefs and forests from total collapse. The hard part is that it usually took many years for a project to gain traction and success. There were also times when I thought that it would die down due to a lot of green washing and people dismissing ecotourism as a viable tool for both the tourism and environment sectors. We had to be very resolute in convincing and empowering stakeholders and eventual local champions to push for the right concept of ecotourism.

Now, more people are engaged in the formulation and making sure that the concept and movement become a success story in the country and many (many!) communities where it can be practiced.

More than 30 years on, ecotourism in the Philippines has proven its viability as an economic, environmental and even a social tool for conservation. And the good thing is, today is still a good time to jump into this advocacy.