Tour Guides To Sell Bohol and Cebu's Best Products

Tour guide operators in Bohol and Cebu will become mobile billboards in promoting the locally popular products uniquely known for in the different towns and cities in the provinces.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-7) Regional Director Asteria Caberte during a recent briefing to tour guides in Cebu and Bohol bared the 'One Town, One Product' (OTOP) Program will make use of the growing tourism industry as a gateway to promote and sell OTOP products in Central Visayas to international and domestic visitors
alike.

The OTOP is a priority program of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs.

Cebu and Bohol on the other hand, has been consistently been ranked as among the top favored tourist destinations among foreign travelers based on the recorded number of international tourist arrivals by the Department of Tourism.

Ideally, the OTOP product of a certain town or city must capture the heart, culture and skills of the people in the locality apart from the abundance of raw materials within the area in making that particular product, according to Caberte.

The OTOP Program likewise supports micro, small and medium enterprises to manufacture, offer and market distinctive products or services through the use of indigenous raw materials and local skills and talents. It is designed to encourage entrepreneurship and local patronage of native products, generate employment and enhance the tourism profile of the country.

The DTI is the lead agency of the OTOP Program offering a comprehensive assistance package through a convergence of services from the local government units, national government agencies and the private sector. Some of these services include business counseling, skills and entrepreneurial training, product design and development, appropriate technologies and marketing.

Some Region 7 OTOP products along with other items from Regions 6 and 8 are on display at the Natalie Shop in Ayala Center Cebu.

Caberte said the DTI-7 is currently negotiating with the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority to put up their own OTOP corner at the airport so tourists can see the different products from Central Visayas in one area.

Before the briefings, a memorandum of agreement was signed by the DTI, DOT and the CATO to become partners not only in promoting Cebu and Bohol but its popular local products as well.