MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Department of Tourism (DOT) has expressed its aim for domestic tourism to return, and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is working on recommendations for health and safety guidelines for restaurants, cafes, and other dining establishments, in the hopes that food will help fuel the return of tourism.
According to the 2020 Food Travel Monitor, 7.2 out of 10 travelers choose a destination by its food and drink. In the Philippines, close to 30 percent of a foreign tourist’s expenditure is spent on food and beverages, based on DOT’s data.
Puyat made a case for food tourism in her opening remarks at the webinar titled “Re-imagining of Food Tourism” in light of COVID-19, sponsored by the World Food Expo (WOFEX) in partnership with DOT.
“By seeking out and partaking in the local food or delicacies, travelers create a deeper connection to a region and its people, an experience that will not easily be forgotten,” Puyat said.
Long before she took over the stewardship of the DOT, Puyat had been a proponent of the rich Filipino culinary heritage while serving as undersecretary at the Department of Agriculture during which time she collaborated with renowned chef Margarita Fores.
Fores is the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) ambassador for gastronomy tourism. She was part of the panel along with food personalities Cesar Cruz, Ivan Man Dy, Olive Puentespina, JJ Yulo. PEPTarsus President Joel Pascual moderated the webinar.
Fores echoed Sec. Puyat’s expectation that food lovers will go out and dine as soon as restrictions are lifted.
“We have to reinvent ourselves, to do take-outs and delivery because that’s all that’s allowed for the moment and many of our house staff have shifted to our courier team. It’s challenging, we don’t know when the catering business would resume so what we’re doing is offer custom-made menu for our clients,” she said.
The renowned chef, who maintains her bakery which offers her popular Margarita Crinkles and probinsya-style ensaymada, and other crowd-favorites, said establishments be inventive and ready to serve food differently to assure customers of a safe environment.
Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Travel Operators Association (PHILTOA), said the tourism sector must prevail against all odds and embrace the protocols under the new normal.
Olive Puentespina, of the Malagos Garden Resort in Davao City, which used to be visited by tourists from all over the world year-round, said the self-sustaining agro-industrial park has focused on marketing their internationally acclaimed chocolate and cheese products, as well as ready-to-eat meals.
“We were blessed with soil which we turned into a vegetable farm and we raised chickens. We also have aquaculture. The challenge that we are facing now is only a phase in a transformation in which we can come out in better form,” Puentespina said.
JJ Yulo, of Pinoy Eats World and Foodtrip on ANCX, looks forward to going back to business and getting people out to eat in the restaurants.
“This is a time of learning to do things differently and, most of all, this is a time for us to support each other,” Yulo said.
