Nowadays, our society faces
issues on humanity, specifically on gender sensitivity. News about this topic have obviously made it to the headlines
for the past months. It has also
penetrated the internet world by hitting the top spot on the trending issues
worldwide. It’s no surprise that people
are really paying much interest to the awareness
of the gender sensitivity in relation to its society being.
In relation to this, the
University of the Philippines Tourism Management Society, being a tourism
related organization, decided to host a
seminar that will tackle the role of the tourism industry when it comes to the
issue of gender sensitivity and equality.
Several questions about the aforesaid topic were discussed by the honourable
guest speaker, Mr. Manuel “Raffy” Aquino, founder of Equality.PH, core member of Ladlad
Partylist and Pride March Organizer of Task Force Pride Philippines.
It’s really refreshing to have
this recent issue be related to the tourism industry. As a tourism student, I find it good to have an opportunity to
know the current status of Gay Tourism in the Philippine tourism sector. I learned that though we are not yet
considered to be a gay-friendly destination,
it’s still nice to know that there are some places in the country which are
open and accommodating the LGBT community as market. Several beaches, bars and
restaurants were featured in the presentation of Mr. Aquino, wherein it has
been stated that LGBT community can enjoy the idea of ‘leisure’ and ‘travel’
without being discriminated and harassed. This is important because safety, security and belonging are some of the
notable factors that tourists must feel when it comes to tourism and travel.
Furthermore, Mr. Aquino gave a glimpse to what is the future
of Gay Tourism in the Philippines. He
then honestly stated, which I agreed
upon, that the future of Gay Tourism in the Philippines is not that clear.
There are several reasons for this. One is that Philippines is a Catholic
country, and we obviously know what is the stand of the Catholic church when it
comes to the issue of gender sensitivity and LGBT community. Another is that Philippines, as a
destination, is not yet ready to be totally open to cater to the LGBT community
tourism-wise. Also, Filipinos, as a
society per se, are not yet liberated enough to be open and accommodate LGBT
travellers. But still, above all of this, the seminar ended at a positive note,
hoping for the Filipinos to be more educated and acceptable when it comes to
the idea of Gay Tourism, and Philippines to be more open culture-wise, to the
attempt of penetrating Gay Tourism in our industry.
I, myself, am not that sure
too on what will be the future for Gay Tourism, but I’m glad that UP TMS hosted
an event that gave me and my fellow tourism students knowledge and awareness
that we surely need being in an industry wherein service and hospitality is the up-most priority.
Here are some of the colorful photos of the event!
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| J. Malabi project head, K.Munoz event host, M. Febrero UP TMS CE, Mr. Raffy Aquino guest speaker, N. Camacho project head, Y.Gonzales A&R Head |
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| TEAM ACLE with Mr. Aquino guest speaker; M.Rolloda, C.Olivera, J.Malabi, N.Camacho, Y.Gonzales, S.Abad, M.Agcaoili |
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| Faculties and Foreign Intern also went Pink! Prof. J.Dulnuan, Prof. Mercado & Maki Kondo |
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| Limae Perez went PINK! |
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| Rech Sarzaba went PINK! |
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| Alvin Patrick Sumague & Bryan Paolo Tanchoco went PINK! |
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| C. Valle went PINK! |
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| Seyra Rico went PINK! |
For more photos of the event, visit the UP TMS page at:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.983649661652377.1073741838.247705251913492&type=1
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