SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PRACTICES OF LOCAL TOURISM ESTABLISHMENTS OF NUEVA VIZCAYA

Abstract

Tourism demand, if not controlled properly, can have serious consequences for local communities, the economy, and the environment. This has become the difficulty of tourism's sustainable development. Tourism is predicted to play a significant role in the Philippines' economic growth. However, there are severe environmental and social consequences connected with tourism expansion, and both our tourist markets and the Philippine tourism sector have become increasingly aware of these. The study's goal is to support the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism Article III: Tourism as a factor of sustainable development by determining whether tourism establishments in Nueva Vizcaya are aware of sustainable tourism practices and whether they are practiced and implemented in the operation of their businesses. The survey included 42 participants from local tourism establishments in Bayombong and Solano, 18 from the food and beverage industry and 24 from the hotel sector. In this study, a descriptive research strategy was used, with a survey questionnaire used in conjunction with the convenience and purposive sample techniques to collect data. The data were statistically treated using the frequency distribution and weighted mean to get the respondent's demographic profile. Pearson r was used to determine the strength of the relationship between the level of awareness and the extent to which sustainable tourism practices were implemented, while ANOVA was used to test the difference between the level of awareness and the extent to which sustainable tourism practices were implemented. The data demonstrated that the level of respondent awareness and level of implementation of sustainable tourism practices resulted in Much Aware and Much Implemented, respectively. The majority of the respondents are neophytes when it comes to tourism practices, according to the data. It was suggested that the Provincial Tourism Office, in collaboration with PLGUs and LGUs, review and revisit the National Tourism Development Plan, National Ecotourism Strategy, and Sustainable Development Goals, and develop a set of policies and guidelines for the sustainable operation of tourism businesses, as well as continue to raise employee awareness of sustainable tourism practices and implement them. As a result, a program of intervention was proposed.