Batanes Tourism and Hospitality Monitoring Center
Member since
2023
Hosted by
University of the Philippines Diliman
Monitoring area
Batanes, the Philippines
![INSTO](http://pre-webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/webimages/LogoINSTO_2024.png?VersionId=td9vbF7fZ5LNazkwh9SnLlqD8YmGG4ps)
![loca tion maps](http://pre-webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/webimages/Batanes%20Double%20Map.png?VersionId=x42rT798d0jrwV9HX00W74um5unafhpF)
![](http://pre-webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/webimages/Gifu%20Double%20Map.png?VersionId=csKl2zNck7EcxofInUJLtT7idTRSrv27)
Batanes is the northernmost province of the Philippines and is an archipelago with three inhabited islands located about 162 km north of the mainland. The capital is Basco and the province is home to the indigenous Ivatan people.
The Observatory is managed by a multi-disciplinary team from the Asian Institute of Tourism, the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management, and the Institute of Civil Engineering, all from the University of the Philippines Diliman. A technical working group composed of stakeholders in Batanes assists the research team in managing the operations of the Observatory. A partnership has been established with the Batanes State College and the Provincial Government of Batanes in carrying out research activities.
FACTS & FIGURES
![Figures](http://pre-webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/webimages/Facts_Figures_Batanes.png?VersionId=.v6obxzu.plqvEiQ.IMMWIyoasjSCX.8)
MISSION
To gather and analyze (tourism) relevant and accurate data for sharing, planning and decision making.
CURRENT MONITORING PROCESSES
For Batanes, not all of the INSTO monitoring key issue areas will be monitored immediately. Rather through workshops with stakeholders, priority issues have been identified for periodic assessment. To assist in the consideration of potential sustainability indicators in Batanes, the research team has adopted the participatory approach to indicators development. Specifically a series of stakeholders engagements employed a workshop approach to identify the key sustainability issues and how to measure their changes across three islands over time. Residence, local administrators, and TWG members from Batan, Sabtang, and Itbayat participated.
KEY MONITORING AREAS
Local Satisfaction with tourism
Economic benefits
Solid waste management
Cultural integrity
Governance
Biodiversity
Physical carrying capacity
DID YOU KNOW...
The Province is the only area in the Philippines where traditional architecture is stone in response to the winds and monsoon weather, rather than the more typical, tropical, impermanent materials such as wood, bamboo, thatch, commonly used in village architecture. One of the most iconic features of the Batanes cultural landscape is the vernacular house with metre-thick stone walls topped by an equally durable cogon roof.
RESOURCES
- Preliminary Study of the Batanes Tourism and Hospitality Monitoring Center
- Press release (10/06/2023): Batanes Islands in the Philippines joins the UNWTO Network if Sustainable Tourism Observatories, UNWTO.
- Monitoring sustainable in the Batanes Islands, Philippines
CONTACT
HERITAGE AND TOURISM OFFICE OF BATANES