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CHAPTER 2

Review of Related Literature and Studies

Local literature

Abajeco, (2015) assessed the competitiveness of Cebu’s

tourism industry vis-a-vis the Central Visayas and the rest

of the Philippines. By examining relevant tourism indicators,

the study investigated and analyzed the status, challenges

and sustainability of Cebu’s tourism industry amidst the

highly competitive tourism environment in the Visayas and

across the country. The study employed quantitative research

approach utilizing secondary data which were subjected to

descriptive analysis. The findings revealed that Cebu’s

tourism competitiveness is strengthened by its diverse

historical and natural resources, rich cultural milieu,

established land, sea and air transport infrastructure,

presence of hotels and resorts and a thriving industrial and

manufacturing economy. The presence of the Mactan Cebu

International Airport in Lapulapu gives Cebu a high

competitive edge for its connectivity with the rest of the

country and many vital Asian cities. White sand beach resorts

which abound in the province are easily accessible from urban

11

centers of Cebu, Talisay, Mandaue and Lapulapu cities. The

same holds true for hotels and other tourism facilities.

Nonetheless, many challenges pose to slowdown Cebu’s tourism

momentum. Tourist destinations in many parts of the country

and in neighboring Asia are rapidly growing and innovating.

Cebu tourism industry has to take the lead with highly

competitive better-quality products and services than what

its competitors put in the tourism market. The tourism

industry players must ensure efficient and strong

partnerships among the local government units (LGUs), the

business entrepreneurs, the local communities in keeping Cebu

a premier tourist destination hub in a sustainable manner.

According to Ocao, (2019) Cebu is the present. Cebu is

the future of tourism. These are the brave words of Shahlimar

Hofer Tamano, the head of the Department of Tourism in

Central Visayas who, in his year-long travels across the

region and across Cebu Province, believes that despite having

carved a name in the global tourism map, Cebu has tapped but

10 percent of its tourism potential. Tamano assumed as

regional director in 2018. “I personally think that Cebu is

running on 10 percent of its potential as far as the industry

is concerned,” he tells The Freeman. DOT-7 is partner with

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The Freeman Travel Cebu, a special page in the paper that

will showcase the travel destinations of every town and city

in the island. The project is one of the highlights of The

Freeman’s 100th anniversary celebration.

According to Suntar Cebu, (2019) A vegetable techno-

demo farm will soon be one of the tourist attractions in the

southern town of Dalaguete, as the Department of Science and

Technology (DOST) Cebu and the University of the Philippines

Diliman assessed its facilities. The Dalaguete Vegetables

techno-demo farm is LGU-owned but the enterprise is managed

by Kapunungan sa Mag-uumsa sa Sigpit, a Department of Labor

and Employment-registered people’s organization of farm

workers with 38 members who are beneficiaries of its farm

operations. DOST Cebu Provincial Director Tristan Abando said

the Dalaguete farm is the agency’s pilot project that will

soon showcase the latest farm technologies provided by the

DOST to the farmers. “We have an existing program on the

development of farm tourism to promote agriculture and it’s

also an alternative side of tourism. We want to incorporate

or feature the DOST-supported technologies related to

farming,” he said. Abando said the agency’s PCAARRD supports

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the research and development programs for the improvement of

productivity in farming and agriculture. The techno-demo farm

uses new farming technologies such as the use of greenhouse

technology and organic farming. Although the farm is still

under the development stage, Abando said they are targeting

to make it ready in the middle of 2020. “The goal is to make

it interactive. Meantime, we would just like to have a

showcase like information about the farm,” said Abando.

Sinha (2012) discuss in her article “Nature based-

tourism and biodiversity conservation protected areas,”

discussed that the role of sustainable nature-based tourism

(also called ecotourism) in conserving biodiversity is

paramount given that tourism and nature are intricately

linked. The Philippines virtue of its ratification of the

Convention on Biological Diversity has a legal obligation to

halt biodiversity loss. One of the conservation measures that

has been suggested, as being pragmatic and effective in

pursuing this conversation commitment, is sustainable nature-

based tourism. This paper has two parts. Part I explores the

role of ecotourism in conserving biodiversity within

protected areas in the Philippines; it also discussed nature-

based tourism practices and policies in natural destinations

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in the country. Part II outlines the various ways by which

ecotourism can contribute to meeting the main goal of the

Convention on Biological Diversity, particularly, the Aichi

Biodiversity Targets. The main issues and challenges

confronting the Philippine government and other relevant

stakeholders with regard to the integration of ecotourism and

biodiversity conservation are also presented. This paper can

be useful to other countries that have similar issues and

concerns.

Agbon, (2010) Discussed that study sought to analyze

the determinants of international tourist arrivals in the

Philippines from 1995-2006. Specifically the study sought to

(1) describe the trends in tourism in a global scale; the

Asia Pacific region; the Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) region and the Philippines; (2) determine the

factors influencing the international tourist arrivals in the

Philippines by broad regional sub-groupings; and (3) draw

policy implications to further develop the tourism industry

in the Philippines. The present study used descriptive

statistics to explain the tourism trends. Multiple regression

models were specified to quantify the degree of influence of

the independent variables classified as country origin and

15

destination. There were eight equations used to represent the

different sub-regional groupings of tourists. This study used

the multiple linear regression equations utilizing the

Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Random Effects (RE) and Fixed

Effects (FE) using a statistical software package. The data

spanned from 1995 to 2006, with 56 countries identified as

country of origin. The Philippine tourism from 1995 to 2006

was characterized by several periods of upswings and

downswings. The highest number of international tourist

arrivals was in the year 2006 at 2.7 million. The average

daily expenditure of a tourist is only 122.1 USD while the

number nights stayed averaged at 8.9. The results of the

regression analysis revealed that income measured in GDP per

capita of the origin country emerged to be a significant

determinant of international tourist arrivals in the

Philippines. The relative prices of tourism goods and

services were important considerations to the Europeans,

other ASEAN tourists and Africans. The number of hotel rooms

seemed to be important to Europeans, other South East Asians

and the Africans. The variable safety was generally

considered important while the population and number of

internet users in the origin appeared not to be an important

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determinant of tourist arrivals in the Philippines. Thailand

appeared to be substitute destination for the Philippines.

The countries Hong Kong (SAR), Indonesia, Malaysia and

Singapore could be all considered as complementary

destinations to the Philippines.

Foreign literature

Sharma (2010) stated An Introduction to

Ecotourism Centrum Press New Delhi-110002 in India. That

Moore is fully aware, in quoting the promotional rhetoric of

the park administration; the nature’s intention is a human

fiction. But our plunder and presumption are more than

matched by its mysterious geologic presence... The thrilling

encounter with place is intercepted repeatedly by comic

businessman “who require 365 holidays a year.” These sense

that we have turned Mt. Rainier into a theme park for

tourists enamored of the pseudo-rigors of outdoor life

contends with proliferating details and jolts to our

orientation that the contemplation of this place provokes.

According to Maunder (2019) that the historical

debates about environmental degradation on oceanic islands

acted as crucibles for the evolution of modern conversation

17

thought (Groove 1995). These largely colonial debates

recognized the link between forest loss and watershed decline

and the possibility that habitat loss can result in species

loss. Currently, oceanic islands are manifesting very high

levels of extinction that demand urgent and innovative

approaches to conversation. The Chapaudigms established for

continental areas, based primarily on the establishment of

protected areas, are not sufficient to ensure the survival of

the highly modified biotas and ecologies of many oceanic

islands. On such islands the habitats prior to human

colonization are largely destroyed, the original ecological

processes lost or diverted, and the populations of endemic

taxa severely reduced and fragmented. To salvage endemic

species and their ecologies, habitat conservation needs to be

matched with intensive species management and habitat

restoration.

Fennell, (2015) said that one of the world’s largest

industries, tourism is associated with many of the prime

sectors of the world’s economy. According to Yeoman et al.

(2006) tourism has had an average annual increase of 6.6 per

cent over the last half century, with international travel

rising from the 25 million in 1950 to over 700 million by

18

2002. In 2012, the number of tourists crossing international

boarders reached 1.035 billion, up from 995 million in 2011

(UNWTO 2013). More especially, and of interest to our

discussion of ecotourism to follow, is the fact that in 1950

the top five travel destination (in Europe and the Americas)

held 71 per cent of the travel market, but by 2001 they held

only 35 per cent. Yeoman et al. ascribe this to an increasing

desire to visit new places, which in turn has been stimulated

by an emergence of newly accessible destinations in Asia,

Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific.

According to Ukessays, (2019) across the globe, public

is increasingly concerned about environment issues, thus

tourism destinations are realizing that adopting green

practices and green management are rapidly becoming a

strategic tool that can enhance a destination’s competitive

advantage. The facts that people are beginning to look at

green practices in a whole new way; it is a must to involve

sustainability in the hotel industry. The perception of green

has change; it has gone from a fringe movement to a

mainstream. The tourism market has been diversifying into

different sub segments in order to respond to the exact needs

and wants of their customers. Tourism is regarded as the main

19

economic pillar of Mauritius, indeed the Travel and Tourism

industry brings many positive impacts in Mauritius but the

fact that alongside with these advantages, other factors like

climate change, pollution and effects of tourism practices

have also created a hot issue in the Tourism arena. The

negative impacts of tourism activities has resulted in an

increasing demand of ”green destination”, meaning destination

where there are visible efforts of protecting and sustaining

the environment by dealing with issues like carbon emissions,

bio diversity conservation, resources usage, water supply and

waste management. It can be said that the tourism and the

environment sustainability concept are visibly becoming

natural partners. Green tourism, for the past couple of

years, has been a crucial factor for tourists while opting

for a destination. Mauritius has several sites that encourage

green tourism such as Pamplemousses. Garden (it ranks among

the most famous botanical gardens in the world with its

giants water lilies and evocation spice plants), Domaine Les

Pailles (a natural park spreading over 3000 acres at the foot

of a mountain range), Casela Bird Park (which stretches over

25 hectares and contains more than 140 species of birds from

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five continents), Black River Gorges, Ile aux Aigrette and

among others.

Shrivastava (2010) conclude that Nature Based tourism

is one of Australia and world’s Fastest growing tourism

markets as resident and visitors go to natural and cultural

areas and sites to experience beautiful landscape, flora and

fauna and our European and Indigenous Culture.

Local Studies

According to Picazo, (2015) He briefly reviews the

literature on the emerging concept of eco-adventure and

cultural tourism, dubbed “green and gold tourism”

respectively. It provides the rationale for conducting such a

study in the Philippines (why the concern for inclusivity and

environmental sustainability in tourism). It then establishes

the feasible scope of such a study and lists illustrative

activities of inclusive and sustainable green and gold

tourism. It also identifies concerns and issues about green

and gold tourism in APEC countries and in the Philippines.

Finally, it classifies emerging good practices in this area,

including volunteer travel, promotion of home stays,

community organized and owned tourism activities,

21

establishing non-mainstream tourist routes and destinations,

and tourists’ involvement in cultural preservation and eco-

rehabilitation.

Bautista, Palaganas, Plata, Velaso (2015) discussed

the problems being encountered by the community residents and

visitors as to ecotourism activities offered by Mount Arayat

National Park namely, lack of life guards in pool with 24.10

percent; rough and slippery terrain 16.90 percent; no

briefing or orientation before the hiking or trekking starts

with 10.79 percent; no camping equipments available for rent

with 10.43 percent; some of the cottages are un cleaned and

old with 9.36 percent; no available tour guide; for hikers

with 4.68 percent; no enough cottages for visitors with 4.32

percent; and no available signage for directions and

reminders for visitors 2.16 percent.

Acio, Agustin, Huang, Magante, Martin, Pacupac, (2015)

aimed to (a) determine the factors that affect visitors’

interests in going to Manila Zoo, (b) investigate what

improvement are needed to be done in Manila Zoo, and lastly,

(c) question what the problems are encountered by the

respondents with the facilities and services offered by

22

Manila Zoo. In this paper, the researchers assessed the

facilities and services being offered in Manila Zoological

and Botanical Garden to go a step further to know what

factors have seriously affected visitors’ decisions as a

result of recent decreasing number of visitors. The

assessment on facilities includes (a) maintenance, (b)

safety, and (c) attractiveness, whereas the one on services

involves (a) hospitability and (b) responsibility. In the

end, the researchers were able to provide useful data and

help fuller commendations in order to recapture old visitors

as well as attract new visitors to make Manila Zoo as

prosperous as how it used to be or even more. At the same

time, such a project will also bring a very big benefit

to boost the growth in tourism industry with its possibility

of being as an iconic tourist attraction within the district.

Foriegn Studies

According to Shimoyamada, (2016) Open Gardens are

those in private homes that have been opened as visitor

attractions, where a proportion of money charged for entry is

given to charity. Whilst there is a body of literature on

garden visiting, there is little empirical research into

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garden opening. In addition, the existing studies, which were

largely based on quantitative methods, do not differentiate

between the roles and perspectives of the various agents who

produce garden openings. This research investigates how Open

Gardens, under the auspices of the charitable organisation

Scotland’s Gardens, are collaboratively produced by garden

openers, their helpers, volunteers and salaried staff of the

organisation.

The principal method of data collection was fieldwork

that included participant observations from 39 site visits

and 41 semi-structured interviews with the four kinds of

producers. Supplementary data were generated from archival

documents that record the historical development of Open

Gardens. Data collected from fieldwork were analyzed and

categorized according to themes emerging by means of domain

analysis. Each theme was carefully defined and described by

creating thematic codes. After the preliminary data analysis,

ongoing reading of various social theory literatures drew me

towards using concepts of power to more deeply understand the

nuanced ways in which the four kinds of producers work

together. Hearn’s (2012) theoretical framework was employed

to examine how power which differs in perception between the

24

various agents in a given social situation operates in the

production of Scottish Open Gardens. The data suggest that

the meaning of legitimate power exercised by the producers of

Scottish Open Gardens is often highly subjective. Some

volunteers were reluctant to fully exercise their power to

instruct garden openers because they assumed their request

would not be accepted or that it would lead to unwanted

conflict. Some garden openers concealed their intentions to

show off their horticultural achievements through engagement

with Scottish Open Gardens, because they perceived that

others would regard pursuing such personal interests to be

egocentric. The data also suggest that the production of

Scottish Open Gardens is partly dependent on non-human forces

such as nature or materials. The quality of gardens, 2 the

number of visitors and the amount raised for charity were

determined by weather conditions, public transportation and

even the refreshments on offer. The findings highlight the

role of such non-human elements in the production of Scottish

Open Gardens, and challenges the conventional premise that

human-intentionality alone defines agency. The thesis

concludes that the production of Scottish Open Gardens can be

more deeply understood by considering the highly fluid,

25

subjective and non-human ways in which power operates. There

is no definitively powerful agent present, as the locus of

power is continually contested between a rich and complex

mixture of human and non-human agents. An implication for

practice is that Scotland’s Gardens should clarify which

agents may be more or less empowered in given aspects of Open

Garden production, and the ways in which his or her power can

and should be legitimized. The thesis also offers a broad

theoretical framework which may help to more deeply

understand the subtle power operations present in the co-

production of outdoor leisure and tourism pursuits.

Cui, (2013) said that the western passion for Chinese

culture, especially Chinese garden culture, began in the late

17th century. Today Chinese gardens abroad are often features

of tourism destination. This research is a case study of the

Dunedin Chinese Garden which is a recent example in New

Zealand. This dissertation reports on findings of the

research using interviews conducted with key stakeholders

involved in the development of the Dunedin Chinese Garden and

outlines its history, the development background, the

management and marketing approach current visitation and key

stakeholder’s views of the garden. Particular focus has been

26

given to exploring the Dunedin Chinese Garden’s may potential

but quite different roles in Dunedin’s development. These

include: co modifiable recourse for tourism products and

services, catalyst in local area regeneration and

revitalization, enhancer of environmental amenity and

contributor to place image or band. The finding’s informed by

relevant literature are discussed to highlight the Garden’s

subtle meanings in representing Chinese culture, Chinese

diasporic culture and sister-city relationship with Shanghai.

Conclusions relate to the rationale for the current

development, tourism performance and markets, the challenges

faced in interpreting and promoting of the Dunedin Chinese

Garden in New Zealand.

Stone, (2015) confirmed that Ecotourism is one of the

fastest expanding tourism markets. It has received much

attention in developing countries and economically

impoverished regions around the world. As an agent of change,

ecotourism has been linked to sustainable development

strategies and initiatives in many places. However,

ecotourism can induce a variety of both positive and negative

environmental, cultural and socioeconomic impacts at a

destination. Operating in its ideal form (according to some),

27

ecotourism provides the tourist with a quality nature

experience, generates funds and support for conservation

efforts, has minimal environmental impact and provides

socioeconomic benefits to local host communities. While there

is evidence that ecotourism’s espoused benefits can be

realized, there are equally as many, if not more, cases where

ecotourism has fallen short of its proposed objectives.

Indeed, ecotourism’s impact has been highly variable. At the

same time, some have criticized that there have been

relatively few practical assessments of ecotourism’s status

at specific destinations.

This study sought to assess the current status of

ecotourism at two destinations where it is being promoted as

a regional development strategy. The existing tourism-

park/resource-community relationships and impacts are

evaluated at Jianfengling and Diaoluoshan National Forest

Parks, in Hainan Province, China. Hainan, although endowed

with a wealth of natural resources, is one of China’s most

economically backward provinces. Ecotourism has been

identified as an important provincial strategy for balancing

economic growth and conservation. The study is intended to

enhance the capacity of ecotourism to generate benefits for

28

both the local communities and destinations (the protected

areas), and thus contribute to the sustainable development of

the region more generally. Given the exploratory nature of

the research, qualitative analysis was used. Interviews,

observations and secondary sources were the main vehicles of

inquiry employed in this study. Basic quantitative analysis

was used to aid in the interpretation of interview results.

Triangulation, in terms of both data sources (primary and

secondary) and methods (document collection, observations,

interviews, quantitative analysis), was used wherever

possible to limit personal and methodological biases. Similar

results were found in both the Jian fengling and Diaoluoshan

case studies. Ecotourism development is at an early stage. As

such, socioeconomic benefits for the local communities have

been very limited. At the same time, residents have had to

cope with reduced access to resources since the Parks were

established in the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, community

residents generally support conservation and are optimistic

that tourism growth will yield benefits. Both Parks receive

relatively few tourists, and neither Park charges a user fee.

As a result, (eco) tourism has not, to date, contributed

revenues towards conservation efforts. Although the Parks

29

offer spectacular tropical scenery, facilities are basic and

educational opportunities for tourists are few. Planning

direction and recommendations are offered based on the study

findings and the salient ecotourism literature. Identified

opportunities, constraints and recommendations are used to

provide a potential framework for the development of a park

(eco)tourism plan at each study site. Results and

recommendations could inform planning and management

processes, and thus enhance the capacity of ecotourism to

generate benefits at the study sites and, more generally,

throughout Hainan.

Alim, (2018) find out the visitor’s perception towards

the tour destination, Padma Garden, Rajshahi in Bangladesh. A

convenient sampling technique was used to collect data. Total

thirty one quality attributes were taken into consideration

to find out the choice similarities or dissimilarities

towards the selected destination. A total 199 usable data

were collected from Padma Garden using 5 point Likert Scale.

Data were analyzed using SPSS to find out influential factors

which are the most responsible for drawing the attention of

the visitors. Findings reveal six factors; food and beverage,

price, accommodation, environment, safety and security and

30

transportation. However, food and beverage is appeared as the

most influential factor consisting six attributes whereas

transportation appears as less important to the visitors for

visiting the destination. The main contribution of the study

is twofold. Theoretically it provides insightful relationship

between visitors’ choice factor and visiting to the

destination. Practically, the destination operators can use

the mentioned factors in their promotional activities.

Liu, Ning, (2018) discussed the Tourism destination

marketing is one vital factor that affects the development

and management of destination images. This thesis deals with

the destination images of Beijing and its branding strategies

towards international tourists and domestic tourists. The

purpose of this thesis is to identify how Beijing is

presented in tourism marketing between international tourists

and domestic tourists, and to detect potential differences as

well as reasons for them. This study focuses on analyzing

Beijing’s marketing materials that include websites,

brochures and videos towards international and domestic

tourists by content analysis. An earlier study performed by

Lew and Yu, 1992, found that international and domestic

tourists show different demands in China; thus this study

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continues an investigation to find whether the different

demands of international tourists and domestic tourists are

considered in current Beijing marketing materials, and if so,

in what way. To fulfill the research purpose a series of

destination images and different marketing strategies from

marketing materials towards international tourists and

domestic tourists are identified through the content

analysis. With these findings, Beijing’s current marketing

strategies are clarified according to the potential

differences towards the international and domestic tourists.

Synthesis