The Department of Tourism (DOT) announced on Tuesday, April 6, that it has coordinated with its partner agencies to promote and preserve traditional Filipino dishes in line with the country’s month-long celebration of Filipino Food Month or Buwan ng Kalutong Filipino.
In a statement, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat highlighted the importance of culinary tourism “as an important protector of cultural heritage” for it creates opportunities and livelihood in rural destinations nationwide.
“This echoes the theme of this event, “Pagkaing Pilipino, susi sa pag-unlad at pagbabago.” Among the biggest desires of tourists, today is the need to make a deeper, more meaningful connection with the places they visit, and one of the best ways to broaden tourists’ appreciation for a place is through food,” Puyat said during the opening ceremony of the Filipino Food Month 2022 held recently.
Aside from the promotion of Filipino dishes, Puyat plans to align DOT’s efforts with partner agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (DA), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement (PCHM) to preserve and uphold various industries, food tourism stakeholders, farmers, and agri-communities.
She added that the agency has prepared online and on-site activities to be conducted and participated by the DOT regional offices during the month-long celebration.
Among the activities she mentioned were the Fun Philippine Finds Pop-Up Store at the 21st World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit (April 20 to 22); and Mangan Taku (Let’s Eat) 2022 with DOT Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Baguio City government, CAR provinces, and DA-CAR (April 21 to 24).
Moreover, the DOT Region 4A will conduct online activities such as Sustainable Diner Series on April 6, 11, 13, 18, and 20 and the Slow Food Webinar for FEU (Far Eastern University) Cavite on April 22. Calabarzon will showcase its cuisine on April 29, while the agency’s regional office in Region 6 will hold a three-day event called Namit!: A Celebration of the Filipino Food Month on April 25 to 30.
In Mindanao, DOT Region 10 will conduct a virtual food crawl of Cagayan de Oro City on April 3, 10, 17, and 24, while DOT Region 11 will stage a culmination activity on Kalutong Pilipino from April 29 to 30.
Apart from these activities, Puyat said that DOT’s Philippine Food Tourism Consortium exhibit "Biyahe Na, Kain Na!" features food and tour packages for locals and tourists.
Among the packages she promoted were Pampanga Day Tours (P4,150 per person); Bulacan Day Tours at P4,250 (per person); Calabarzon Day Tours at (P4,900 per person); Overnight tours featuring Baguio and Benguet, Laguna and Rizal Art and Crafts Loop, and Subic-Clark Bubble at (P9,999 per person); threee days two nights tours at the Benguet to La Union, Ilocos Trail, and Cordillera Trail (P16,300 per person); Day trip Sit-In-Coach Tours featuring San Fernando-Angeles-Clark Loop (P4,150); Tayo Na Sa Rizal (P4,900).