GMA's Weekend Getaway Goes to Lake Sebu (Video)

Samahan ang BFFs at bagong registered nurses na sina Ally at Crey sa isang relaxing Weekend Getaway sa Lake Sebu sa South Cotabato. Samahan silang gumawa ng tilapia chicharon, mag-nature tripping sa Seven Falls kung saan makikita ang pitong magkakatabing talon, mag-zip line 200 meters above ground, at marami pang iba. (Date Aired: Sept. 7, 2012)


Lake Sebu's T'boli Tribe Featured in Globe Trekker

Globe Trekker (sometimes called Pilot Guides in Australia, Thailand, and Canada, and originally broadcast as Lonely Planet) is an adventure tourism television series produced by Pilot Productions. The British-based series was inspired by the Lonely Planet travelbooks and began airing in 1994. Globe Trekker is broadcast in over 40 countries across 6 continents.

The show often goes far beyond popular tourist destinations in order to give viewers a more authentic look at local culture. Presenters usually participate in different aspects of regional life, such as attending a traditional wedding or visiting a mining community. They address the viewer directly, acting as tourists-turned-tour guides, but are also filmed interacting with locals and discovering interesting locations in (mostly) unrehearsed sequences. Globe Trekker also sometimes includes brief interviews with backpackers who share tips on independent travel in that particular country.

Shilpa Mehta
On its 10th episode for Season 3, Globe Trekker Shilpa Mehta travels to the Philippines. Among the places she visited were Baguio, Sagada, Manila, Davao, Palawan and Lake Sebu.

She met with the indigenous T'boli people and got to see one of their distinct tradition - horse fighting! The said episode was aired recently at the Lifestyle Network.

Click here to read more about Globe Trekker's visit to the Philippines.

T'boli Tribe on Nescafe TV Ad

Here's a TV commercial of Nescafe Classic featuring the T'boli TRibe of Lake Sebu with their theme, "Para kanino ka bumabangon". Watch and see how beautiful and interesting the T'boli Tribe is in this 30seconder ad.

South Cotabato allots P5M more for development of eco-tourism sites in Lake Sebu

Here's some good news courtesy of http://magazine.southcotabato.org/

The provincial government of South Cotabato is investing an additional P5 million for the development of the emerging eco-tourism and adventure sites in the lakeside resort town of Lake Sebu.

Cesar Sulit Jr., South Cotabato tourism officer, said over the weekend that the additional funds would be utilized to fast track the ongoing implementation of the Seven Falls Development Project, a local government-led tourism initiative that promotes the development of Lake Sebu’s famed seven waterfalls.

“We will continue with the infrastructure buildup, improve the site’s operations and develop other potential attractions within the seven waterfalls,” he told.

Sulit said the project’s allocation was endorsed earlier this month by the Provincial Development Council as part of the local government’s annual investment plan for 2011.

He said South Cotabato Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr., who earlier adopted the project as among his administration’s priorities in terms of tourism development, had set additional funding through the provincial government’s proposed 2011 budget.

The management of the Seven Falls Development Project, which was launched more than two years ago with an initial funding of some P20 million from the provincial government, was transferred earlier this month from the supervision of the Provincial Environmental Management Office to the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO).

The provincial government launched anew the project led by Gov. Pingoy and other local officials.
Sulit, who also heads the PPDO’s Arts, Culture, Tourism and Sports Unit, said they earlier launched a study to identify various strategies that would help enhance the ongoing development and operations of the project.
He said that among their initial plans was to introduce trekking and wildlife tours as complement to the popular ziplines installed in three of the area’s seven waterfalls.

Sulit said they will develop the trails from waterfalls 1 to 7 to encourage trekking activities, which would be mainly marketed among students and hiking enthusiasts.

He said they would train some local residents to serve as tour guides for the trekking and the wildlife tours.
To improve the operations of the ziplines, Sulit said they would acquire additional equipment to accommodate their growing number of clients, especially during weekends and holidays.

The ziplines connect waterfalls 1 and 5 as well as waterfalls 2 and 5 and features a thrilling drop of about 740 and 400 meters, respectively.

Sulit said the twin ziplines, which accommodates at least 50 persons daily, posts an average daily income of P12,500 but such figure usually doubles during weekends and holidays.

“Right now, only the zipline and the entrance fees were generating revenues for the project. We want to further improve its capacity to draw more income by introducing more adventure packages and opening accommodation facilities,” Sulit said.

Sulit said they plan to construct additional sheds, cottages, conference halls and accommodation facilities to accommodate long-staying visitors as well as host seminars and conferences at the site.

He also said that they would hire additional personnel to further improve the operations of the project’s management unit.(PNA)