ANNOUNCEMENTS
The aim of this study was to provide an analysis of the situation and trends; policy and governance of sustainable tourism in the Philippines. A gap analysis of the tourism Act and development plans, both at a national and local level, and other tourism related government documents was done in line with the Pillar 1 of the ‘5 Pillars of Sustainable Tourism’ given by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The barriers and challenges for the development of sustainable models; and opportunities for the various stakeholders associated with tourism and ways in which they can strengthen their participation in the sector were analyzed. The major issues identified are the lack of holistic policies highlighting the need for sustainable tourism; weak business climate, leading to less investments and participation from the private sector; insufficient capacity of the local governments for effective implementation of national objectives; and other problems such as underdeveloped infrastructure and unreliable security system. In the last section, issues for sustainable tourism under the themes: economic, environmental and socio-cultural have been highlighted. The major issues include unequal benefit sharing with the local communities; mass tourism leading to unplanned infrastructure development which has thereby led to biodiversity loss and natural resource depletion; and conflict amongst stakeholders. Replicable strategies from countries in Asia and the Pacific with a significant dependence on tourism that have been successful have been identified.
Key Words: Sustainable tourism, Philippines tourism, Tourism, Policy, Governance
