Members of the opposite parties engaging in a debate during the convention exchanged insights and opinions on the causes and effects of sex trade in the overall Philippine tourism industry.

But not all in toursim comes as a blessing. With poverty pestering some of our countrymen, tourism has spawned a new ‘industry’ as a way out four impoverished Filipinos - it is sex tourism.

What is sex tourism? Much has been said and heard about this ‘other’ industry in tourism, yet very few dared talk and discuss it, listen and watch this decaying industry ruin the lives of women and men and worse, children.

To simply put it, sex tourism is going abroad partially or fully for the purpose of engaging in sex in a foreign country, mostly in underdeveloped or developing countries where poverty forces some people, young and old, into the sex trade.

Why travel for sex? If, indeed, sex tourism is becoming widespread, how come many people turn a "blind eye" on the issue?

Those questions and other issues were answered during the Convention and Exhibit Management Class 3T1 of the University of Santo Tomas seminar and debate on sex toursim titled "Unfold the truth… Break the silence… Sex Tourism: The Enclave Reality of the Magnificent Façade of the Tourism Industry" at The Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati City.

"This is a great opportunity for us to become fully aware of [sex] tourism activities and hopefully, it can help the [public] understand its effects on our country’s tourism," says UST Tourism faculty Fredeswindo Medina.

The five-hour convention primarily aimed at creating awareness and instill in the minds of the participants the truth about sex tourism and its effects in the tourism industry.

It also looked into avenues for possible reforms on sex tourism, minimizing its negative nuances and putting greater focus on the main destinations and events as the main attractions of tourism in the Philippines.

Tourism – defined as traveling to a place where one does not usually reside – is indeed one of the growing industries of the world. It accounts for big revenues for the country. But, the industry of attracting tourists and catering to their needs sometimes lead to exploitation of flesh trade. That’s where sex tourism comes in to the picture and most of the victims are innocent children.

Department of Tourism Standards Development Division officer Donald Bulanhi, one of the two resource speakers in the convention cited globalization, natural disasters, poverty, armed conflict, trafficking, drugs, unemployment, underemployment, low educational attainment, a continually growing number out-of-school youth, political corruption, family breakdown, migration, lack of respect for children’s rights, and increased opportunities for sharing information via the Internet as some for "child sex tourism" (CST).

"Of course, [our department] doesn’t promote child sex tourism," Bulanhi states. "That’s why we have undertaken activities to fight it. We have had 17 advocacy forums in major tourist destinations, which are awareness campaigns on child sex tourism. We have developed informative and educational campaign collaterals, like posters, stickers, calendars and others."

He added that people need to be responsible, sensitized, vigilant, and trained in order to successfully eradicate the said "industry".

For GABRIELA international relations officer Emily Cahilog, the other speaker, education information is the key.

"That‘s actually the most important thing in helping curb sex tourism. Share all the information that you get," she says.

"In your own way, understand more the issue and the corollary issues of sex tourism. You cannot discuss sex tourism and just stop there. There are several other corollary issues, like prostitution, sex trafficking, child trafficking, poverty, and politics of the government," Cahilog advises the students. "You can also support campaigns by both government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)."

"Sex tourism is a growing issue in our country and it affects us. We chose that topic because as future tourism professionals, we want to help people who are involved in it," says the event’s overall chairperson Johnadele de la Cruz.

Participants of sex tourism convention were students and advisers from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, St. Paul College Manila, Trinity College of Quezon City, Lyceum of the Philippines University, and De La Salle University Dasmariñas.

Class adviser Atty. Geezez Giezi Granado comments: "It's a good thing that the student organizers and their participants, who would be tourism professionals someday, now have ideas about sex tourism, especially its ill effects."