SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio (top left) and Deputy Director for Programs Dr. Nur Azura Binti Adam (in red, top right), join the opening ceremony of the IETM with guests and delegates from around the world, including the 14 SEARCA grantee-participants (bottom photos) from Southeast Asian countries.
CAVITE, Philippines—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has recently concluded the co-hosting of the International Ecotourism Travel Mart (IETM) with over 200 experts and delegates from 25 countries held at the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in Silang town on 29 March to 2 April 2023.
The IETM is the world’s first green travel mart that brought together delegates and exhibitors to showcase products and services with a strong ecotourism component, green technology, and sustainable green practices. In a special message delivered at the opening ceremony, SEARCA Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio emphasized that the key to sustainable ecotourism is partnerships, and involving and empowering local communities.
“In this event, we celebrate a bountiful harvest because of two important things,” Dr. Gregorio shared. “One is the growing recognition of traveling responsibly and paying close attention to the ecosystem and cultivating a healthy living environment; and two, is the important role of farming families as catalysts of ecotourism and agritourism,” he continued.
The IETM was presented by the Asian Ecotourism Network (AEN), a regional initiative of the Global Ecotourism Network (GEN) based in Costa Rica, in cooperation with the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST), as the main organizer.
Part of this global event was a two-day Ecotourism Forum where SEARCA awarded 14 grants to nationals of Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. Through the Center’s support, the 14 grantees received the Associate in Ecotourism Management Certification upon completion of their attendance at the forum. They also had access to networking opportunities and the AEN seminar where global network members presented case studies of ecotourism practices, challenges, and future directions. The seminar included presentations from Japan, Bhutan, India, Taiwan, and selected Asia-Pacific countries.
In a knowledge-sharing workshop to wrap up the five-day event, Dr. Nova Ramos, head of SEARCA’s Training for Development Unit, led a synthesis of the grantee-participants’ key takeaways and action points. The workshop tackled their insights from the IETM, particularly on the intersections of agriculture, tourism, arts, business, and culture, as they integrated their reflections and learnings from the event into their proposed action plans upon return to their respective institutions.
Participants engage in a knowledge-sharing workshop with Dr. Nova Ramos (top left) and Mr. Sonny Pasiona (bottom right), both from SEARCA’s Training for Development Unit that led the Center’s co-hosting of the IETM.
“We appreciate SEARCA, AEN, and ISST for organizing this magnificent event,” said Leonardo Soares, who works with the Uniaun Agrikultores Ermera, a farmers’ movement in Timor-Leste. “I noted from this forum that I can harmonize ecotourism and agroecology as they have similar values and principles. Both give attention to people’s prosperity, as well as in economic, cultural, and environmental development,” he added.
SEARCA’s participation in the IETM was led by the Education and Collective Learning Department-Training for Development Unit (ECLD-T4DU) with assistance from the Applied Knowledge Resources Unit (AKRU) and the General Services Unit (GSU) for the exhibit of SEARCA publications, projects, and activities. The exhibit used recycled and refurbished materials from the Center’s previous events to promote sustainable practices and resource efficiency.
The IETM was the second global event that SEARCA and ISST, along with other partners, have jointly implemented. In 2018, SEARCA and ISST collaborated in staging the Global Farm Tourism Summit, which was also held in the Philippines.
Miss Earth 2022 beauties led by current titleholder, Mina Sue Choi (center) of South Korea, visited the Center’s exhibit at the IETM where they engaged in conversations with SEARCA officials and staff on agriculture programs and activities.