I AM honored to have been invited by Provincial Tourism Officer Cristine Mansinares to be the moderator during the Negros Occidental Tourism Summit held at the Social Hall of the Provincial Capitol recently.
The resource persons were Undersecretary Jesus Hinlo Jr. of Department of the Interior and Local Government, Assistant Secretary Frederick Alegre of Department of Tourism (DOT) and Regional Director Helen Catalbas of DOT-Western Visayas. They were joined in by Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., Vice Governor Bong Lacson, Mayor Bing Leonardia, and Lito Coscoluela (former governor and now a consultant for the province).
The event was well-attended by the representatives coming from the tourism-oriented establishments, academe, government agencies, media, friends of tourism group, and some Manila and China-based businessmen.
Governor Marañon stressed that tourism is his priority being a flagship program of his Negros First agenda. His tourism-related programs are all geared to attract more local and foreign tourists.
Vice Governor Lacson encouraged the tourism pillars of the province to update their products for proper promotion and marketing. His office is committed to achieve tourism goals in our land of sweet surprises. Mayor Bing Leonardia wants to embolden partnership between the province and the city so that we can all work together against the competitors.
Undersecretary Hinlo said this tourism summit should be coupled with economic summit. “We are in a beautiful island and we have a beautiful province with a capital city, Bacolod, that has been identified as a top city in the Philippines. We have to bring in infrastructure for tourism, not just the awards.”
Hinlo added, “The concentration should not just be in the metro area. We have to provide more facilities in south and north Negros. Tourism should be able to provide jobs for our constituents. Negros should not rely on sugar alone. Our sugar industry is hemorrhaging already. We have to give a serious look at tourism and other industries.”
The undersecretary believes that to solve criminality and drug-related problems, we have to keep our people busy by providing them jobs. He emphasized that Negros Occidental should be our first model to be followed by Panay and the rest of the Visayas. He understands that all appointed Negros leaders by the president are all working hard for Negros Island Region (NIR).
Assistant Secretary Alegre hails “One Negros, One Top Tourist Destination.” According to him the international airport in Silay is capable for night operations to accommodate flights arriving in the middle of the night. He also believes that our province is popular in gastronomy tourism. He repeated what President Rodrigo Duterte said, “Tourism must be inclusive. Let it grow and people must benefit from it.”
Alegre assures Negrosanons that more road networks are coming soon to address the complicated traffic problems especially in Bacolod City. “We have to reach out more to Chinese tourists. There are millions of them waiting to be lured.”
He challenged our province to prepare fast. “We are preparing for Asia Inbound Golf Tournament in 2018. We expect for the participation of 650 golf tour operators. Our country is fast becoming the “Golf Tourism Center in Asia.” The Philippine Motor Tourism Council is preparing a 10-billion dollar industry by making the Philippines the motor tourism hub.
“We are now in full swing for tourism. President Duterte recently approved the National Tourism Development Plan. In 2022, we are expecting 12 million tourists to come as part of Asean Plan for Tourism. We have to come up with more infra, more airports, more employment. Negros Occidental should be a part of this plan.”
Director Catalbas said that she has still 35 months before retirement. She is encouraging our province to strengthen our local markets and come up with bilateral agreements between the source market and Philippine Government. She wants us to join more tourism missions abroad.
The summit is a challenge that measures out capacity to perform at peak level. Negros should be ready for an excellent performance. We are the performers!