THE Manila city government is finalizing a tourism development plan, another first in the city’s history.
Mayor Isko Moreno announced that earlier on, Charlie Dungo, head of the city’s department of tourism, culture and arts of Manila (DTCAM) informed him that surprisingly, the said department, which used to be a bureau, has no such plan in place.
“Imagine, capital city ang Manila tapos walang development plan,” Dungo said, adding that when he reported the matter to Moreno, the mayor automatically gave the go signal for him to continue with his idea of coming up with a plan that would give the city’s tourism a definitive direction.
Dungo said that with support from Moreno and the city council headed by Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna as its presiding officer, the first ever Tourism Development Plan 2020-2023 will soon be put in motion.
Moreno likewise lauded the DTCAM after bagging the grand prize for the “Move Your Destination Forward!” video contest during the recently-concluded 21st National Convention of the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines held last October 29, 2020.
The competition was held among members of the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines and the videos created for the said contest were meant to present to the public, in various ways, the different tourist attractions that these local destinations have made to kickstart tourism amidst the ongoing pandemic.
With the city of Manila as the grand winner, the other winners are Luzon- Municipality of Mauban, Quezon; Visayas – Province of Negros Occidental and Mindanao-Province of Davao Del Norte.
“Magaling ang mayor natin kaya dapat sabayan namin,” said Dungo, who said that officials like him are inspired to strive for excellence as their leader, Moreno, consistently does the same.
