ITOP makes Cebu its 9th member

THE Cebu Provincial government is expecting to get more promotion mileage with Cebu Province being accepted as a member of the Inter-Islands Tourism Policy (ITOP) Forum.

Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale who talked about their visit to Jeju Island yesterday said they were formally declared as ninth member of ITOP, after being in the observer status for two years.

Magpale, Provincial Board committee on tourism head, was accompanied by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to last week’s ITOP forum at Jeju Island.

Magpale said that Cebu would be more known through the promotion it would gain from being a member.

Four provincial governments of four countries founded the Inter-Islands Tourism Policy Forum in 1977, a consultative body of regional governments for consulting and supporting common tourism policies.

These are the provincial governments of Bali, Indonesia; Hainan, China; Okinawa, Japan; and Jeju, South Korea. Its members has since increased to nine including Hawaii, USA; Phuket, Thailand; Zanzibar, Tanzania; Canary Islands, Spain; and Southern Province, Sri Lanka.

The group aims to explore the world tourism market by bringing together islands with similar tourism structure and policy.

Magpale said that ITOP members would focus on the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) market.

“They are focusing MICE this time. What is MICE? That is a high-end big spending and discriminating kind of tourists,” she said.

She said the next ITOP Forum would be held in Okinawa, Japan next year. /Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus