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| Tindog Capiz |
ROXAS City — Capiz is keeping the spirit of bayanihan alive in the aftermath of super typhoon “Yolanda.” Part of this is encouraging tourists to get involved in rehabilitation efforts by volunteering.
The provincial government, through the Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO), has launched what it called a “voluntourism” campaign dubbed “Tindog Capiz.”
The campaign “aims to hasten the rehabilitation of the province by inviting tourists who are willing to make sense of their vacation to serve and help others,” a post on PTCAO’s Facebook page said.
It is the provincial government’s “proactive response to the immediate need to rebuild the lives of its people,” the office said.
PTCAO said the Capitol acknowledges the fact that “it will not be able to get the job done alone.” It said the province “needs all the help that it can get, especially from those who are willing to become a ‘voluntourist.’”
It said the province currently needs tourists “who would like to put new meaning to what they do, have a better picture of the place that they visit, and gain new and better perspective about life and humanity.”
The province needs those who “would like to acquire truly meaningful lifetime memories” and are “more than willing to experience Capiz first,” it said.
PTCAO has identified various voluntourism sites and activities: (sites) community-based rural tourism, indigenous peoples’ communities, heritage sites, pilgrim sites and eco sites; (activities) tree-planting; arts therapy/arts for healing; coastal cleanup; house- and school-building; livelihood training for women, out-of-school youth and other disadvantaged sectors; clearing operations; and cultural care-giving.
Voluntourists must register with and be accredited by PTCAO. After which, they will be referred to the sites based on their chosen activity.
International and domestic tourists, private companies holding team-building and corporate social responsibility activities, international socio-civic organizations conducting immersion, religious organizations holding pilgrimages, government agencies holding outreach programs and academic institutions having lakbay-aral/educational tours, can participate, PTCAO said.
Participants can avail themselves of special rates in PTCAO’s partner accommodation establishments and restaurants.
Interested voluntourists can contact PTCAO at (036) 6210042 local 133, (036) 6212935, capiz.tourism@yahoo.com, or facebook.com/CapizTourismAndCulturalAffairs.
PTCAO is teaming up with the Department of Tourism and other government agencies, nongovernment organizations, tourism-related organizations and tourism stakeholders in the province.(PN/RALPH JOHN MIJARES)
