Who would've thought we'd ever get to Mozambique? We went here to represent the Philippines in a conference for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), sharing the Philippine experience in sustainable tourism. The NCCA is a member of the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet) which includes a number of other countries, such as Turkey, Qatar, Taiwan, Nigeria, Mozambique, among others.
We spoke about the framework for sustainable tourism development laid out in the Tourism Act of 2009, the strategy of linking it with strategic incentives for the private sector, and for the need for tourism development planning at the local level. We also spoke briefly about the challenge posed by the recent closure of Boracay, and how sustainability must include the needs of the local community.
