By Analou De Vera
The Department of Tourism (DOT) has vowed to further promote the country's culinary tourism, saying that food is one of the deciding factors when visiting a tourist destination.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo -Puyat (CZAR DANCEL / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that food has been "impacting tourism industries all over the world."
"Culinary or gastronomic tourism is emerging globally at a fast pace that the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported that it is now a central part of the tourism experience," said Puyat in her speech during the recent DOT WOFEX (World Food Expo Philippines) University Fun Food Talks in Taguig City.
"More and more people are turning to food as their key motivation to travel to a destination. Somewhere around the world, you see someone scrolling on their phone, or their laptop, or their Ipad on the lookout for the next destination they could visit that has the best food they can try or perhaps a festival---farmers' market or culinary tour--- they can attend that will make them travel," added Puyat.
The tourism chief said that the country’s cuisine is not lagging behind in the global stage.
“As a country brimming with heirloom recipes, food-centric festivals and culture, and olden cooking practices--let me tell you that the Philippines is not behind in this feat,” she said.
“The DOT believes in the potential of Filipino food that we have identified culinary tourism as a key tourism product in the National Tourism Development Plan,” she added.
Puyat also highlighted some Filipino chefs who are well-known in the international scene.
“We are not short of world-class homegrown culinary talent either. We have the likes of Chef Claude Tayag, Chef Tatung Sarthou, and Asia's best female chef and UNWTO Ambassador Margarita Fores. These culinary power chefs have shed blood, sweat, and tears to give Filipino food the global popularity it enjoys today,” she said.
Recently, the DOT has invited three US-based Filipino-American chefs for its “Chefs’ Food Trip Project,” a two-week tour around the country’s most-popular culinary destinations, wherein they met with seasoned Filipino chefs and learned about the richness of the Philippine culinary scene.
The Fil-Am chefs that were invited for the said project were Tom Cunanan, owner of Bad Saint restaurant in Washington, D.C.; Charles Olalia, owner of Ma’am Sir restaurant in Los Angeles; and Lanai Tabura who won the Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race.
“Through the Chefs Food Trip to the Philippines activity and for its succeeding runs in the years to come, we hope to create an army of food tourism ambassadors and inspire more chefs like Tom, Charles, and Lanai to bear the Philippine flag through their creation wherever they may be,” said Puyat.