ONCE bastions of tedium and sleepiness, towns are getting a shot in the arm from the zealous support of local heritage and tourism from the Cebu Provincial Government.
In 2005, the Tourism and Heritage Council launched the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo tourism caravan. Since then, regular tour packages have taken domestic and foreign tourists to visit the province’s 44 municipalities and seven cities.
The windfall from the one to two days’ gallivanting is enjoyed by visitors and the visited. Tourists discover little-known remote places and take in local sights, crafts, products and culture. Local governments and entrepreneurs generate business and prospects for repeat patronage.
To promote the indigenous, the Tourism and Heritage Council funds the writing of local histories and research to showcase local resources, practices or folklore through festivals and dances. According to sugbo.cebu.gov.ph, Cebu has the most number of local festivals at 46 from only 10 festivals in 2004.
Last Aug. 8, 34 towns displayed local lore through street dancing and elaborate production numbers mounted during the “Pasigarbo sa Sugbo” held at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC). According to the Aug. 10 Sun.Star Cebu report by Gerome M. Dalipe and Victorino Reynes IV, Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. said it was fitting to call Cebu the “Fiesta Island” since all towns and even barangays and sitios have their festivals.
Cost-efficient hospitality
While fiestas have their undeniable appeal for tourists in search of the novel and the spectacular, tourism promotion strategies must consider a few realities.
Fiestas are annual celebrations that require a lot of resources. Some even criticize the fiesta complex that demands a year’s scrimping and sacrifice to be able to afford a lavish celebration that lasts only for a day or two.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has questioned the capacity of communities to sustain tourism initiatives requiring a lot of logistics and subsidies from Capitol. He observed that participating local governments in the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo caravan spend as much as P300,000 for only 200 visitors. Pasigarbo sa Sugbo contingents received a subsidy of P100,000 from the Provincial Government.
Osmeña also commented that the One Cebu trade exhibit, which shows local products, crafts and other souvenirs at the CICC, lacked the “focus” to attract potential buyers and investors.
Even disregarding the mayor’s speculation that the tourism marketing strategy of Capitol is politically motivated, it is valid to assess whether tourism and heritage promotion is productive relative to the cost.
While Cebuano hospitality is a marketing asset, this should not come at a price that cannot be sustained by local governments and entrepreneurs, which will have to rely on local resources for the long haul.
Hiyas
To be sustainable, tourism and heritage initiatives should involve networking among local governments, national government agencies and nongovernment organizations to support community-based initiatives.
Last Feb. 28-29, the Philippine Association of Museums Inc. conducted a caravan in Cebu in cooperation with Capitol, the Department of Tourism and the Visayas Association of Museums and Group Inc. The target was to promote eco-museums, which turn the community into a museum itself.
To jumpstart its local eco-tourism, the Alegria Municipal Government trained and organized local volunteers into the Alegria Spelunkers Association (ASA), Alegria Tourist Guide Organization (ATGO) and the Alegria Tourism Investors Association.
Ronie Baisac, ASA president, has received inquiries from neighboring towns interested in an echoing of their training on cave mapping and spelunking.
Tourists can tap Luciana Gomez Borda to be their guide. The spry 60-year-old is a veteran volunteer, active as a Bantay Dagat fish warden and ASA core group member who has explored 14 of Alegria’s estimated 58 caves.
ATGO has recently linked with the University of San Carlos and the University of the Philippines in the Visayas Cebu College’s Central Visayas Studies Center for trainings on cultural mapping. Municipal planning and development officer Jesus Rey Cavalida said the ATGO will be tapped for the cultural mapping, which inventories the tangible and intangible
hiyas (features or jewels) of a town to bring focus and direction to the local eco-tourism campaign.
Cebu’s drive for heritage and tourism should not be blinded by the flash and fizzle of the lavish and the spectacular, missing the most valuable and sustainable resource even the sleepiest town can offer: its people.
