A niche tourism brand for students budding scientists, or even armchair Einsteins is currently in the works in Los Baños.
The Los Baños Science Community Foundation Inc. (LBSCFI) launched the “Development of Science Tourism in Los Baños” project with the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the Calabarzon branches of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Department of Education.
The project aims to promote science and technology (S&T), increase the number of tourists in Los Baños and boost the engagements of local stakeholders and enterprises.
According to LBSCFI President Alexander R. Madrigal, who is also the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 4-A Regional Director, the project also aims to “promote S&T as a career path among students.”
As an emerging niche-tourism concept, “there is no body of knowledge yet in science tourism,” said Forester Roberto P. Cereno, chairman of the LBSCFI Tourism Committee and director of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)-College of Forestry and Natural Resources Training Center for Tropical Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability.
Cereno, however, emphasized the scopes of science tourism, which are “science in tourism” and “tourism in science.”
The former showcases S&T innovations and interventions, while the latter packages and promotes S&T ideas, discoveries and laboratory breakthroughs into “awe-inspiring” and “mind-blowing” tourist attractions.
DOT Region 4-A Regional Director Rebecca V. Labit expressed support to science tourism. She describes the undertaking as “timely, needed and speaks well of the sustainability for tourism.”
Also present during the launch were Los Baños Mayor Caesar P. Perez, Lopez Elementary School Principal Bernon Abellera, members of the national and local media and representatives of LBSCFI member-agencies.
Los Baños was designated as the “Special Science and Nature City” of the Philippines in 2000 based on Proclamation 349.
Visitors flock to the university town to see the scientific outputs of LBSCFI member-agencies, which include UPLB, the International Rice Research Institute, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, DOST 4-A and other institutions and organizations, besides its natural wonders and other tourist attractions.