2nd National Surfing Summit concludes

BORONGAN CITY – Surfers and surfing enthusiasts from across the country joined the 2nd National Surfing Summit and Surf City Festival in this city.

The National Surf Summit was held from December 2 to 3 alongside the annual Surf City Borongan competition to create a synergistic platform that maximizes the efforts of all its stakeholders.

The landmark event with the theme "Surfing Horizons: Unveiling New Destinations, Igniting Tourism" is an initiative of the Department of Tourism.

It aims to bring together surfing stakeholders to explore the potential of surfing as a tourism attraction and an Olympic sport.

DOT-8 Regional Director Karen Tiopes shared that DOT is giving priority to sports tourism because based on statistics, sports tourism attracts more tourists.

"Among those who are in Eastern Visayas can find a niche in surfing because probably we are the only region with a lot of surfing destinations. We have Guiuan for rift breaks and Borongan for beach breaks so you have the best of both worlds," Tiopes said.

She added that Eastern Samar is the only province in the Visayas positioned in the market for surfing, including other areas in Leyte, Samar, Southern Leyte, and Northern Samar.

Rupert Ambil II, Borongan Surf City Festival chairman, said that the summit shows how the people of Eastern Samar manage their resources to host their visitors through the summit.

"One of the learning we have in hosting this summit is that even though we don't have the infrastructure that La Union has, even though we don't have all the things that we need to host the summit, it's a learning experience because we have to start somewhere," he said.

Ambil thanked the DOT for its support and initiative in providing a platform for locals and visitors to learn and continue the discussion for the development of the surfing industry.