OTOP Familiarization Tour in Bohol

The OTOP Familiarization Tour activities was conducted last February 19 on the assumption that tour guides and operators will make effective walking “billboards” in the advocacy and promotion of OTOP products in the region.

Orienting tourist guides and tour operators on OTOP products of each town in Bohol can increase the products' market exposure. Tour guides and operators educate tourists on heritage and culture. It would be logical for them to also know OTOP products which the region can boast of because of their high quality.

The recent OTOP briefings have given travel agents new information which they can share to tourists


DTI 7 is working closely with tour operators and DOT because they develop tour packages. They also help develop stops and sites ready for tourists

The OTOP Program will make use of the growing tourism industry as a gateway to promote and sell OTOP products in Bohol and Cebu to international and domestic visitors alike.

Bohol and Cebu have been consistently ranked as the top favored tourist destination among foreign travelers based on the recorded number of international tourist arrivals by the Department of Tourism.

Discussed during the DTI 7 OTOP briefing for travel agents were the history and background on the provincial OTOP products. DTI 7 provided storylines for OTOP products which tours guides can use as part of their spiel during regular city and countryside tours. They can incorporate OTOP stories into the town’s history and narrate it to tourists.

DTI 7 and DOT 7 conducted the OTOP familiarization tour for the same travel agents who attended the briefings in Cebu and Bohol.

The familiarization tour covered visits to tourist ready sites in municipalities and cities producing OTOP products. It was the intention of the DTI and the DOT that the OTOP tour will be included in the official tour loops that the travel agents shall develop for the region’s tourists.