Project Title & Location
REGIONAL TOURISM MASTER PLAN FOR CARAGA
Department of Tourism, Manila

Client
ORIENT INTERGRATED DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS, INC. FOR DOT
Quezon City

Project Completion
1998

Associated Firms
OIDCI
Transportas Consulting

Services Provided
- Land Use Planning
- Tourism Marketing
- Digital Mapping

The CARAGA Region covers the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur. It is located in one of the most geologically unstable zones in the world. It is precariously perched on the edge of the Philippine Deep, an abysmal canyon that drops 10 kilometers down the ocean floor.

The vision for tourism development is to make Caraga Region the major eco-tourism destination and investment haven, a show window of culture and history in Mindanao.

The planning approach adopted for the study is integrative, systems-oriented and participatory. The environmental system, socio-cultural system, agri-industry and trade, physical and social infrastructures and institutional development subsystems of the region form a large component of the plan.

The regulatory framework involves setting of parameters and standards and ensuring that tourism development is kept within the carrying capacity of the tourism destinations. Development strategies include zonal or cluster development, as well as participatory development.

Overall, an integrated institutional mechanism for sustainable tourism controls the phasing of development.