There is a need to shift strategies in the promotion of tourist destinations like Bohol, in order to catch up with the trend of other nations as far as tourist influx is concerned.

 

This was the point stressed by DOT Sec. Alberto Lim who blew into town for his first outside Manila visit as guest of last Thursday's 165th Bohol Foundation Day which came with the colorful declaration of the province as the cultural capital in the ASEAN region.

 

Lim said the country's 3 million tourists a year pales in comparison to Malaysia which gets 23 million tourists a year, Thailand with 14 million, Singapore with almost 9 million, and even Vietnam which gets about 4 million.

 

"But the good news is that we have a lot of rooms to go upwards. But we have to work at it. It just cannot happen because we have beautiful beaches. It's not automatic," Lim pointed out.

 

Lim addressed over 3,000 Boholano audiences during Thursday's commemorative program at the Bohol Cultural Center.

 

He came along with Undersecretary for Tourism Services and Regional Operations Simeon Marfori II to grace the celebration.

 

They joined Vietnam Second Secretary Tran Trong Duan, UNESCO ASEAN Head Huber Gijzen, UNESCO Commissioner Cecille Guidote-Alvarez, and Department of Education Usec. and NCCA Chair Dr. Vilma Labrador.

 

The new tourism chief executive cited that Bohol has a lot to offer, not just the favorable weather, the beautiful beaches and the people's warm hearts which put the country at global standard.

 

"That's their way of interpreting our hospitality. But it is not enough, and as you can see from the numbers, that is not enough.

 

The secretary emphasized improving the infrastructure as one of the strategies to correct the past mistake of spreading the budget throughout the country "because of political considerations".

 

He said "it did not help tourism, because it did not create the critical mass of infrastructure to complete a destination".

 

The secretary cited as example, a project in a nearby province where the government built an airport. "but there is no road to the airport".

 

"So we now have to focus on high priority areas. The Central Philippines (including Bohol) is the high priority area. And, complete the infrastructure in the high priority areas. That way, we will complete the destination," Lim said.

 

He said Bohol, as part of the strategic destination areas in the Central Philippines, will be getting a lot of attention from the DPWH and DOTC and is even one of the priorities considered by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) -a source of funding assistance for economic and social development programs of developing countries.

 

"JICA is doing training for tourism planning officers so that we will have a better statistics system. Our data gathering is not yet that good. So we really are not so sure about how many people are coming and the Japanese are going to help us on this. So I would encourage all the local government units (LGUs) in Bohol to continue supporting the efforts of the Department of Tourism," the new DOT boss appealed.

 

The tourism secretary also emphasized the need for paradigm shift by going beyond mere promotions and "improve the product and over deliver" it, instead.

 

He said over promising "with all these promotions" of the country would only disappoint the people when the "product is not good enough".

 

"I was telling people who interviewed me that it's not enough to do promotions, because everyone thinks the job of the DOT is to promote the country. If you promote the country and our product is not good enough, the tourists will be very disappointed.

 

To improve the product in the attempt to overdeliver it, Lim proposed to train the people "to deliver a better service", particularly the tour guides, saying it's not just the physical factor but it's the people that matters to have "a better capability in delivering the product".

 

He also proposed to address other concerns like the "downgrading by the US Federal Authority, aviation authority, the EU blacklisting and other concerns of the airlines".

 

Lim vowed to double-time in facilitating government intervention "to fix problems", including the concern on insurance as he expressed lament that "tourists from Europe cannot move around if the insurance does not work".

 

He emphasized the significance of tourism as a powerful industry.

 

"Worldwide, tourism generates about almost 10 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is about 5.4 trillion dollars. That's larger than what most economies earn," Lim said.

 

In 2009, 880 million tourists. out of a total population of 6 billion traveled around the world, he added.

 

"And now after the global crisis, outbound travel is again increasing. And we are experiencing it now from the Koreans, the Japanese and the Americans," he said.

 

In consonance with President Noynoy Aquino's slogan "Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap", Lim explained that DOT may not be a frontline agency when it comes to fighting corruption, but it is one of the frontline agencies when it comes to reducing poverty since the tourism industry creates jobs, livelihood, even in the poorest areas of the country where tourists abound.

 

He said Bohol is fortunate to have Gov. Edgar Chatto who can expound on this, being privy as the past chairman of the House committee on Tourism and co-author of the Tourism Act of 2009.

 

"The jobs I am talking about are not just jobs directly in the industry, but the jobs that the tourism sector generates because, as Gov. Chatto said, there are forward and backward linkages, Lim added.

 

Lim proposed to develop other regions in the country--the northern and the southern parts of the Philippines, aside from the Central Philippines--which also have tourism attractions anchored on heritage.

 

"This is what we call cultural tourism. We have the very rich Spanish culture and the very rich Muslim culture in the south. And this is something that we have to improve upon. Now, it is not just a matter of fixing up the old churches-restoring them to their old glory. Cultural tourism is much more than old buildings," Lim pointed out.

 

He said cultural tourism is bringing out the best in the arts, cuisine and the events that Bohol is abundant of.

 

"You know, there are places like Vigan, for example, where they had discovered that so much livelihood can be made from showing off the culture. So, I will work with the Department of Interior and Local Government. I will work with the governors, and with the mayors and with the Provincial Boards in bringing out the best of your culture, with your cooperation," Lim said.

 

Bohol's advantage is the warm hearts of the people, he said.

 

"I commend Bohol for having a very clear product and distinct market positioning, one that focuses on the natural eco-tourism and cultural attributes. You are the foremost proponent," Lim stressed.

 

Lim, during an interview with the Chronicle at the Bohol Tropics luncheon gathering hosted by Gov. Chatto, he recalled that before 2004, Bohol wasn't really in the map of tourism.

"What was only heard of Bohol was the world famous Chocollate Hills," saying that even the Baclayon Church was not as well-known then.

 

"The trick now is to triple the destinations. That way, you can keep people longer and earn more revenue," Lim said.

 

He said he often gets remarks as to when would Philippines be like Thailand and get 14 million tourists a year, or Vietnam.

 

Lim said he had been to Vietnam four years ago on an ADB mission, promoting tourism in the Mekong River-one of the world's great rivers that traverses Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, Thailand and Myanmar.

 

He, however, explained that he is not so keen on the number of visitors, but on the revenue that the LGU and the people can earn.

 

To earn that revenue, he pointed on the need to deliver the value "because people will pay good money if we can deliver the value" as he emphasized value tourism which DOT intends to promote.

 

He cited as example, the community-based tourism in the Loboc River Cruise, which has already been considered oversold, and the Abatan River as the new entry; then the dolphin-watching in Pamilacan which benefits the out-of-school youths, the women, children and fisherfolk.

 

Lim noted the increase of tourist influx in Bohol from 63,000 in 2000 to over 300,000 in 2009.

 

"Today, Bohol is a stand-alone destination when it used to be only an extension tour from Cebu. Today, you have 3,093 rooms and 340 under construction. That is quite a jump from when I came here in 2002," Lim concluded. (Angeline Valencia)