Community Involvement in the Beach Tourism Industry in the Province of Batangas, Philippines Dr
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International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS) Vol-4, Issue-2, Mar - Apr, 2019 https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.4.2.37 ISSN: 2456-7620 Community Involvement in the Beach Tourism Industry in the Province of Batangas, Philippines Dr. Sherry Joy Abanilla-Del Mundo, LPT College of Arts and Sciences, Batangas State University, Philippines Email id: [email protected] Abstract— This study looked into the extent of community their own country whereas in international tourism, the involvement in the beach tourism industry in the Province barriers exist in travelling destinations beyond national of Batangas, Philippines in the specific areas of peace boundaries where both has incoming and outgoing and security, marketing and promotion and implications on a country's balance of payments. Today, environmental protection. tourism is not only a concept of enjoyment or travelling The descriptive method of research was utilized or passing the holidays, but also a means of development using a self-constructed questionnaire in order to gather for developed, developing and underdeveloped countries. the data needed for the study. The research settled on Tourism brings in large amounts of income into a local restricting the paper sample size to 400 respondents as economy in the form of payment for goods and services based from a matrix which showed the actual number of needed by tourists, accounting for 30% of the world's the participants, resort owners, resort managers, trade of services, and 6% of overall exports of goods and domestic tourists and foreign visitors as well as the services. It also creates opportunities for employment in residents of the municipalities under focus. Except for the the service sector of the economy associated with tourism. Provincial Tourism officials and staff, all other The service industries which benefited from tourism respondents were identified from the four selected include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise municipalities of the Province of Batangas. ships, and taxicabs; hospitality services, such as The results of the study revealed that Batangas, accommodations, including hotels and resorts; and Philippines is a beach tourism haven which gives high entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos, regard to a quiet and peaceful community, is beaming shopping malls, music venues, and theatres. Undoubtedly, with pride of the existence of such beach tourist tourism holds the promise of increased employment and destinations in their respective localities and advocates income opportunities, particularly for Filipinos living in the protection and preservation of the environment. the coastal and rural areas of the country. Yet, it is an Keywords — beach tourism, peace and security, industry built upon the most fragile of natural and cultural marketing and promotion, environmental protection, environments, where the most inconsequential and resort owners and managers, Province of Batangas, innocent of human gestures can easily wreak havoc on the Philippines. site’s resources. This is the challenge of sustainable tourism development. Tourism is expected to become an I. INTRODUCTION even more important weapon in the Philippines’ According to the Tourism Society and the United economic arsenal. However, both our tourist markets and Nations World Tourism Organization Statistics the Philippine tourism industry itself have become more Guidelines of 2010, tourism is the generic term used to aware of the negative environmental and social costs cover both demand and supply that has been adopted in associated with tourism development. The country has various forms and is used throughout the world. thus begun to recognize the need to adopt new Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries as development approaches in order to come up with tourist well as the major source of foreign exchange earnings and products that are environmentally sensitive and employment for many developing countries. It is a leisure economically viable. (WTO, 2005) activity which involved a discretional use of time and CALABARZON is one of the regions of the Philippines money. Recreation is often the main purpose for and also part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway or participation in tourism (Ghosh, 2001) either domestic or simply Luzon Urban Beltway. It is also designated as international. In domestic tourism, people move within Region IV-A and its regional capital is Calamba City in www.ijels.com Page | 440 International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS) Vol-4, Issue-2, Mar - Apr, 2019 https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.4.2.37 ISSN: 2456-7620 Laguna. The region is composed of five provinces, and international tourists. Relative to the issues that the namely: Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon. province is beautifully surrounded by seas, mountains and The region’s name is a portmanteau of the names of these rivers, the protection and management of its endowed provinces. The region is located in southwestern Luzon, beauty and gift of nature have been recommended to be just south and west of Metro Manila and is the second preserved and sustained. The many beaches famous for most densely populated region. CALABARZON can be excellent diving spots that is ideal for observing marine positioned as a tourism destination through the life, fiestas, festivals, the world’s lowest volcano, and development of its potential tourism assets; particularly other outstanding attraction potential for ecotourism sites those based on the environment, history and culture, the and activities. (Mejia, Festijo, Borbon and Barlan, 2013). rehabilitation and restoration of existing tourism The coastal or beach tourism and recreation are important attractions, improvement of access infrastructure, and the parts of the largest and most rapidly growing activity in provision of basic facilities and services required to ease the world (Houston, 1995). This topic embraces the full travel movements. The provinces are endowed with range of tourism, leisure and recreational oriented diverse and rich natural resources, warm and hospitable activities that take place in the coastal zone and the off people, with unique attractions that could initially be of shore coastal waters across the world/globe. They include national significance. (Lancion, 1999) coastal tourism development, for instance, the hotels, The beach tourism industry, also popularly known as resorts, restaurants, food industry, vacation homes, coastal tourism industry, in Batangas is considered a second homes and so on, the infrastructural facilities budding investment on this part of the region. Batangas as supporting coastal development like retail businesses, part of the CALABARZON Region is rich in Filipino marinas, dive shops, fishing tackle stores, recreational traditions and tourist destinations. Making the province boating harbors, beaches, fishing facilities, boating, famous in beaches, food and native products would create cruises, swimming, snorkeling and diving as well as jobs and opportunities to promote the culture and sustain public and private programs affecting the aforementioned the good character of the Filipinos. Tourism has effect on activities (Houston, 1995). the social, economic, environmental, cultural heritage and However, the relationship between coastal areas and arts (Aguda, Tamayo & Barlan, 2013) of certain tourist tourism is as old as tourism itself. Early tourists favored destinations. It is a fast growing industry that has become seaside locations and made journeys to fashionable resorts a top priority of the economic agenda of a number of to bathe in sea water to take advantage of its alleged countries. It is believed that tourism can be used as a tool curative powers. This was a major departure in the to solve problems like unemployment and poverty in eighteenth century from a time when the sea and coast developing countries. Batangas is a province of the were revered as places and even feared (Lenček and Philippines located on the southwestern part of Luzon in Bosker, 1999). For them, “the beach historically speaking the CALABARZON region. Its capital is Batangas City is a recent phenomenon. In fact, it took hundreds of years and it is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna for the seashore to be colonized as the preeminent site for to the north and Quezon to the east. Across the Verde human recreation and the coast continues to be one of the Islands Passages to the south is the Island of Mindoro and most important environments for tourism in contemporary to the west lies the South China Sea. Batangas is one of times building on its established heritage”. Hall and Page, the most popular tourist destinations near Metro Manila. (2005) observed that; “The coastal environment is a The province has many beaches and famous for excellent magnet for tourists although its role in leisure activities diving spots only a few hours away from Manila. Found has changed in time and space, as coastal destinations in the province is world-known dive sites that are ideal have developed, waned, been reimaged and redeveloped for observing marine life, and outstanding for macro in the twentieth century. Beach tourism is becoming a photography. Located only 110 kilometers south of highly competitive business as nations actively seek to Metropolitan Manila, it is very accessible by land or by draw increased numbers of visitors and increased foreign sea. It reigns as the most culturally preserved