Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that sugar tourism can be a sweet part of the country’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as in rebuilding a more resilient tourism industry.
Puyat and Agriculture Secretary William Dar were the guest speakers at the virtual 67th PHILSUTECH (Philippine Sugar Technologists Association) Annual National Convention opening Wednesday afternoon, August 25.
“Certainly there are many ways the sugar industry and the tourism industry can merge to create new offerings and revenue streams. Let us leverage our sugar-producing regions’ heritage and industrial capabilities to develop a strong sense of place, each with its own particular narrative and unique sites,” Puyat urged.
The sugar industry can engage with the tourism industry, particularly with regard to pandemic recovery. This is an area that holds a lot of potential but is yet to be explored, she said.
The Philippine sugar industry contributes significantly to the GDP of the country, with no less than P70 billion annually. With 23.3 million metric tons of cane cultivated in approximately 398,478 hectares of farmlands in 17 provinces, there are about 630,000 farmers dependent on the industry for livelihood and income, Puyat said.
The pandemic did not affect the sugar industry in Negros like it did tourism. In fact, at the end of 2020, the sugar industry posted about 50 percent higher than the previous crop year in terms of gross tons of canes milled, as sugarcane workers were allowed to keep on working during the pandemic, she said.
On the other hand, tourism was sharply affected, she added.
For Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, the decline in arrivals was 78.22 percent, she said. From 1.5 million tourists in 2019, there were only 345,000 tourists in 2020. Tourism receipts also decreased, from P30.2 billion in 2019 to just P6.5 billion last year, Puyat pointed out.
The sugar industry is facing its own set of challenges, like trade liberalization, declining competitiveness, and unstable commodity prices, she noted.
“Diversifying into tourism would provide an alternative source of revenue, and sugar stakeholders may want to consider transforming part of their plantations into a farm tourism destination to create new tourism products that appeal to the pandemic and post-pandemic traveler,” she said.
Farm tourism is an area that the DOT has been actively promoting since the passing of Republic Act 10816 or the “Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016”, she said.
It provides the policy and enabling environment for the encouragement, development and promotion of farm tourism in the Philippines, she pointed out.
In August last year, DOT Region 6 held a webinar about Planning, Setting-up and Managing a Farm Tourism Destination, which showed farm owners how Farm Tourism provides many opportunities to increase their revenue streams, generate employment for their communities, educate the public on the value of farming while providing guests unique authentic experiences, Puyat said.
They have also partnered with the Asia Foundation to conduct digital skills workshops to train MSMEs in the Farm Tourism Sector and effectively participate in the digital economy, she added.
The current tourist preference has shifted towards products, sites, and destinations that offer premium immersive experiences, and the sugar industry can certainly take part in the development of these new tourism products in various ways, Puyat said.
Any tour to a sugar plantation will necessarily touch upon history as well as highlight its agricultural and industrial sides. A tour can show the journey of sugar production starting from the sugarcane harvest to its crushing, milling, and refining, she said.
Sugar-producing countries like Guyana have already started offering sugar estate tours, telling the story of the importance of sugar in the founding of the nation, its dark history of slavery, and how a modern-day sugar factory operates, Puyat said.
“Certainly, our country has its own unique and fascinating sugar narratives that can be brought to life in various ways,” she added.
She also said the Negros Museum tells the “Sugar Story” of the province, how sugar built up the community, and how it continues to influence Negros culture. A heritage-focused tour can build upon this foundation, with visits to the Art Deco Mansions, the ancestral homes, and the historic sugar plantations, she said.
The story of sugar can also be told through food tourism, she said.
The World Food and Travel Association (WFTA) stated that food and gastronomy is now a primary motivation to travel, she added.
“This is a good opportunity for the sugar industry to explore developing food tourism packages and experiences: from sugar-making processes to food demonstrations, and iconic establishments offering delicacies and products which make use of this essential ingredient,” she said.
Sugar plantations or processing sites can provide uniquely curated experiences, from farm-to-table dining or pick-and-pay systems, which can be included in tourist itineraries, she said.
The DOT is currently developing a Western Visayas Sugar Trail as a food tour showcasing how the sugar industry has influenced the lifestyle of the people in the provinces of Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental, Puyat said.
The sugar industry can also help develop enterprises in small communities by teaching them basic knowledge in producing a range of sugar-infused products and other derivatives, such as local candies, desserts and delicacies, natural vinegar, and even rhum-making, she said.
The local communities can in turn, develop cottage enterprises that can sell these products to visitors and form part of the tourist gastronomic experience in destinations, she added.
INNOVATIONS NEEDED
Dar said since 1953 the PHILSUTECH has done an outstanding job and effort to become an integral part and proactive technology provider for the Philippine sugar industry.
“We in the agriculture sector recognize the reality of the COVID- 19 pandemic and have taken our fair share of innovations to ensure the continued dynamism and productivity of agriculture,” he said.
“To meet the challenges that confront Philippine agriculture today we have to modernize and explore all areas and frontiers of technological innovation to facilitate, speed up and ensure the success of the policy and structural reforms we have brought into the agricultural sector,” he said.
The DA is currently pursuing more aggressive strategies in order to attain the vision of food security and prosperous farmers and fisher folk, he said
Dar thanked PHILSUTECH for doing its share in keeping the country’s economy afloat by providing jobs and ensuring the local circulation of money in Negros Island and other sugar producing regions.*