• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez extended a welcome lunch to delegates from the Department of Tourism, headed by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco at the Bantug Lake Ranch, Bacolod City, for the Philippine Exchange Program in the city and Negros Occidental on Wednesday.
The “Fiesta Lunch” showcased Bacolod’s local dishes, especially its famous chicken inasal.
“We want to promote Bacolod as one of those destinations for people looking for a food adventure….We won’t disappoint you because Bacolod is known for becoming a very good place to eat,” Benitez said in his welcome speech.
When you go home, please spread the word that Bacolod City is a good place to visit because of its food and its people, “because we’re always smiling,” the mayor told the visiting officials from the DOT.
Meanwhile, in an earlier press conference, Benitez said that they have decided to make food tourism a priority in their tourism strategy.
They will come up with a program that will enhance visitor and tourist arrivals in Bacolod City through food as a major attraction. They will present the program to Frasco to see what kind of collaboration the city can have with DOT in promoting food tourism, he said.
Benitez said they are now in negotiations with Slow Food International, which has one of the most successful food tourism programs in Europe. The idea is to promote Bacolod as a slow food destination in Asia.*
