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PhilWorldTravel Resources

EDWIN  V.  GATIA,  M.Sc. Independent Travel Contractor- Tours Organizer-Coordinator Travelwriter-Researcher /Photographer xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A Biographical Profile In Perspective

ED GATIA receiving a book from the author, Dr. Martha Honey, of the International Ecotourism Society Ed Gatia during a visit to New York City Edgat at his Home Office Mr. Gatia has been the "Steam Tours" coordinator for NewsTravelService- a Tokyo (Japan)-based Travel Operator headed by its President- Mr. Seiya Sugawara, for more than 20 years, as well as ocassionally those of T.E.F.S. (Travel Everywhere For Steam), a UK-based Operator owned and operated by Bill Alborough, and other groups such as the Australian Railway Enthusiasts (ARE).

An enthusiast of the great outdoors, he initiated the promotion of Mountaineering as a tourism-oriented activity in the early 1970s, and started his career in the tourist industry when he was commissioned to assist the PALakbayan Special-Interest tourism Program of Philippine Airlines (PAL) as Mt. Canlaon Climb Coordinator in early 1976. In May of 1978, he joined the Bacolod Field Office of the Department of Tourism (DOT) as Tourist Receptionist cum Information Officer-Tour Guide.   As an active mountaineer, Mr. Gatia was also directly involved in the founding and establishment of the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines, Inc. (MFPI) in February 1979 as a delegate to the PAL-DOT sponsored First National Mountaineering Conference held in Davao City.  He was also involved as one of the Charter Members of the Negros Mountaineering Club, Inc. (NMCI).    EDUCATION:   A holder of Bachelor of Arts (AB) degree from West Negros College (1982), he pursued his Master of Science (M.Sc) degree in Hotel-Restaurant &Tourism (HRT) from Madison University in 2005 and is currently a student of Travel Agent Course from Penn Foster Career School in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. X TRAVELS:   His experiences with the tourism industry of the Philippines has taken him to practically all the major tourism points of interest around the country, in most cases, as Tour Manager for group travelers-tourists. An enthusiastic traveler himself, Mr. Gatia has (outside of the U.S. and the Philippines), also traveled for climbing expeditions to Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah (East Malaysia) in April of 1983, Mt. Morrison in the Republic of China (Taiwan) in November 1983, and did a solo ascent of Mt. Yarigatake in the northern Japan alps in the summer (June) of 1984. Other travels include visits to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Singapore; Thailand; Costa Rica, Canada, and Mexico.   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX MEMBERSHIP /AFFILIATIONS:   He is currently a member of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) under the Future Travel Professional category, and the International Ecotourism Society (TIES) as well as being a former member of the International Society of Travel & Tourism Educators (ISTTE).