Philippines: Pasay City rolls out urban farm tourism program

Dr. Mina Gabor, chairman and president of International School for Sustainable Tourism and former secretary of the Department of Tourism, said with urban farm tourism, agriculture is becoming “sexy” for the youth

By Jean Fernando
Manila Bulletin
July 10, 2021,

Excerpt:

“Our farmers are aging and the youth are not very interested in farming. Our school wants to change this and right now, we have started to generate awareness and the youth are becoming attracted to urban farming,” Gabor, who is a Sulong Pasay convenor, said.

George Tiopes, head of Pasay City Tourism Department, said urban farming is the way to go for Pasay City.

“Even with the concrete surrounding we have, it is not impossible to grow vegetables. We can do it vertically, we can do hydroponics, or even grow vegetables in plastic containers,” he said.

He said he plans to encourage barangay officials to develop a space that can later be part of a tourism package to be offered by the Pasay City Tourism Department.

Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PhilExport) and a convener and co-founder of Sulong Pasay, said that while urban farming is not an entirely new concept, integrating it with tourism somehow spices up the endeavor.

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