Sunday, April 20, 2008 With 11,000 Palaro delegates, host city swamped after failing to account for tourists By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
PUERTO Princesa—The venues are set up, the athletes are ready. Everything is perfect for the start of Puerto Princesa’s hosting of the 2008 Palarong Pambansa. Everything is in place, except for one thing—the tourists.
The organizers failed to consider the throng of people—whether involved or not in the Palaro—that have swarmed Puerto Princesa, giving a major headache regarding the avaiabiltiy of rooms.
“It is very overwhelming. We did not expect this mass of people to be here at the same moment,” said Puerto Princesa’s information officer Alroben Goh.
The inns, pension houses, hotels and even some resorts a few kilometers away from the venues are booked full. Some of those coming for the Palaro— which includes some parents, officials, teachers and coaches, who were not part of the delegation rosters of their respective regions and even media from out of town—had to dig deep to look for places to stay during the Palaro.
Goh said that they are expecting some 11,000 athletes, coaches and school officials who will join the Palaro. However, they failed to take into consideration the usual arrival of local tourists.
Puerto Princesa, being a major tourist destination, gets huge bookings all year round and this doubles in the summer season.
“It is the summer season and our hotels are booked three months in advance. We failed to consider this, which had contributed greatly to the shortage of accommodation,” Goh added.
Goh said that to address the situation, they had asked private individuals to open their homes ala bread and breakfast.
In fact, other hotels that are not even opened yet, are forced to open their doors to the public as the demand for rooms became stronger by the minute.
A hotel, formerly known as the Airport Hotel, was still closed earlier this week since it is undergoing a major renovation. Because of the dilemma that the city encountered, the management decided to step up and opened some of its rooms for visitors.
Rushed opening
Hotel spokesperson Pepito Donare said that the hotel is supposed to open on a later date as it will be re-launched with a new name and under a new management.
“We had to clear out some gravel on the front lawn and take away the scaffoldings so that it will look decent once the guests arrived,” Donare said.
The rooms, however, were in good condition and they had to hasten setting up airconditioning and cable TV two days before guests arrived.
However, Goh added that they made sure that the hotels will not take advantage of the situation and increase their rates.
“We made sure that we protect our visitors. The Tourism Council even gives out 10 percent discount to hotel accommodations, shuttle services and even souvenirs to Palaro-related guests,” Goh added.
The Palarong Pambansa opens today at the newly-refurbished Ramon Mitra Sports Complex.
