Museums proposed for inclusion in ‘tourism circuits’

THE Department of Tourism (DoT) is proposing to include museums in “tourism circuits” that it is seeking to promote in a bid to attract more visitor traffic.   

Tourism Secretary Maria Esperanza Christina G. Frasco offered the DoT’s assistance to the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) in the marketing and promotion of museums, as well as the establishment of tourism circuits that include museums.

Tourism circuits are clusters of visitor attractions.

“All of your efforts deserve to be highlighted and the general public needs to really know about all the activities, because giving the general public access to all of these worthwhile endeavors would also benefit both the museum and the public in general, in that we are able to provide mainstream access to all that the museums have to offer,” Ms. Frasco said during the third quarter Board of Trustees meeting of the NMP in Manila on Wednesday.

Ms. Frasco said that the DoT supports the projects of the NMP.

The NMP is an arm of the Department of Education.

Ms. Frasco said that the NMP can boost marketing and promotion of its museums under its management by reaching out to local government units (LGUs), part of an ongoing DoT initiative to seek out relatively unpromoted attractions. 

“I hope to have a similar effort done for the National Museum because I will be very interested to explore how we can assist in increasing engagement for its endeavors,” Ms. Frasco said.

The NMP’s board of trustees consists of the Tourism Secretary, the Education Secretary, the Tourism Committee Chair of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Director-General of the National Museum, and eight representatives of the private sector in the National Museum Board. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave