El Nido, Philippines (TAN): El Nido in Palawan province of the Philippines has been recognized as a major rising tourist destination.
Blessed with white beaches and stunning limestone cliffs, the island has consistently been one of the top getaway choices among tourists to the Philippines. Tourist arrivals in El Nido last year reached 300,000.
But the six-month closure of Boracay, an island resort in the Philippines, has left officials wary.
The closure of the Philippine resort island of Boracay, one of the nation’s major tourist destinations, was set for six months starting April 26, 2018, as part of the government’s efforts at the island’s environmental rehabilitation. Boracay was shut down because the tourist hotspot’s infrastructure collapsed under the weight of overtourism.
To prevent a similar scenario, the country’s department of environment and natural resources has already announced its plan to rehabilitate El Nido.
But the Ayala Land Inc. company has been ahead in ensuring sustainable tourism in the popular destination. This is in line with the ultimate goal of the government agency.
[ALSO READ: Twitter manages to connect dad-daughter in viral Notre-Dame picture to photographer]
In developing the Lio Tourism Estate, the Ayala-led company has been guided by “principles of sustainability and inclusive growth ensuring least impact to the environment while benefiting the local community”.
Speaking about the brand’s efforts in preserving the paradise and its sustainability designs, Seda Lio resort general manager Brett Hickey, as quoted by ABS-CBN News, said: “The board of directors have this real sense of what they want to accomplish, and unlike working for other large multinationals, these people really walk the talk. They really want to make the world a better place.”
Hickey said it is important for them in Seda to integrate itself into the site’s natural features and do minimal changes as much as possible.
Part of the brand’s sustainability efforts in Lio is they try to source locally farmed products for their menu. Also, 80 per cent of Seda’s workforce is local, coming from the El Nido town.
[ALSO READ: Pictures of flight attendant calming child with autism goes viral]
“I think [we want to] enrich the lives of the local people, giving them options, just enriching their life and giving them more opportunity that what they have had before,” Hickey said.
In addition, they had to instill a culture of sustainability among their employees, contractors, merchants as well as the local community through holding “Be GREEN (Guard, Respect, Educate El Nido)” trainings.
Lio Tourism Estate was awarded a spot last March in the prestigious “Sustainable Destinations Top 100” list at the ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism trade fair. It cited the estate’s “overall sustainability and its success in destination management”.
Related posts:
FairBnb aims to bring back ‘share’ in the ‘sharing economy’
Tourists in Philippines urged to ‘practice sustainable tourism’ during Holy Week
Qatar Airways Grounds A380 Fleet Until Demand Increases, A350 To Reduce CO2 Emissions
Top hotel groups build inclusive sustainability framework accessible for all hotels of the world
El Nido, Palawan is paradise on earth. There’s no place on earth that is more beautiful