Tsm Master Plan
Tourism Structure Plan of Busuanga and Coron, Northern Palawan: Comprehensive Development through Tourism
Summary
Comprehensive Development Plans in the Philippines from long ago considered tourism as only a ‘footnote’ in the economic plan. Now, tourism has been recognized as a major economic activity, and it is due to this that the 1991-2010 Tourism Master Plan (TMP) was created. The Master Plan’s main goals were not only to develop the economic dimension of tourism, but also to help socio-cultural and environmental management. However, tourism in the Philippines must have comprehensive planning and support in its implementation.
A lot of the Tourism Areas defined by the TMP were presented broadly and needed further detailing. The paper used the area of Northern Palawan (represented by the municipalities of Busuanga, Coron, El Nido, Culion, and Taytay), which has benefitted from tourism planning (with its latest tourism plan being the Sustainable Environmental Management Project in Northern Palawan or SEMP-NP) as an example on how the principles of tourism planning are applied due to its comprehensive approach.
The Tourism Structure Plan for Busuanga-Coron considered several Tourism Development Areas (TDAs), which is a cluster of Tourism Sites (TSs) with a common theme and geographical proximity. The first TDA, Coron Island, is known and treated as the “main attraction.” TDA-2, The Bintuan-Concepcion Area, is mostly known as a dive site due to its diverse marine ecosystem. TDA-3, The Calauit Island Area, makes for a great wildlife reserve hampered by limited accessibility and inadequate facilities. TDA-4, the Maricaban Bay area, is sustained by two premier resorts which are responsible for opening the northern part of Busuanga Island to tourism. Other TDAs were based on their readiness for development.
In order to make tourism in Busuanga-Coron environmentally sustainable, six initiatives have to be taken. The first is to develop the primary TDAs in
Summary
Comprehensive Development Plans in the Philippines from long ago considered tourism as only a ‘footnote’ in the economic plan. Now, tourism has been recognized as a major economic activity, and it is due to this that the 1991-2010 Tourism Master Plan (TMP) was created. The Master Plan’s main goals were not only to develop the economic dimension of tourism, but also to help socio-cultural and environmental management. However, tourism in the Philippines must have comprehensive planning and support in its implementation.
A lot of the Tourism Areas defined by the TMP were presented broadly and needed further detailing. The paper used the area of Northern Palawan (represented by the municipalities of Busuanga, Coron, El Nido, Culion, and Taytay), which has benefitted from tourism planning (with its latest tourism plan being the Sustainable Environmental Management Project in Northern Palawan or SEMP-NP) as an example on how the principles of tourism planning are applied due to its comprehensive approach.
The Tourism Structure Plan for Busuanga-Coron considered several Tourism Development Areas (TDAs), which is a cluster of Tourism Sites (TSs) with a common theme and geographical proximity. The first TDA, Coron Island, is known and treated as the “main attraction.” TDA-2, The Bintuan-Concepcion Area, is mostly known as a dive site due to its diverse marine ecosystem. TDA-3, The Calauit Island Area, makes for a great wildlife reserve hampered by limited accessibility and inadequate facilities. TDA-4, the Maricaban Bay area, is sustained by two premier resorts which are responsible for opening the northern part of Busuanga Island to tourism. Other TDAs were based on their readiness for development.
In order to make tourism in Busuanga-Coron environmentally sustainable, six initiatives have to be taken. The first is to develop the primary TDAs in