Tacloban City ready to host big-ticket Mice

FIVE years after super typhoon Yolanda battered some parts of Eastern Visayas, Tacloban City is now ready to host big-ticket events.

Department of Tourism (DOT) 8 Director Karina Rosa Tiopes said the agency is positioning Tacloban City as a prime meetings, incentives, conference exhibition (Mice) destination to boost the region’s tourism edge.

“We are ready to host Mice activities here. We have facilities that can cater to its needs,” said Tiopes, adding that after the Yolanda calamity, Tacloban City drew closer under the radar of investors as they poured in hefty investments to help the city get back on its feet.

According to Tiopes, Eastern Visayas is well favored when it comes to tourism assets as the region has so much to offer to guests from history to adventure, leisure, culinary and farm tourism.

She said these products will complement the agency’s plan to make Tacloban City as one of the region’s key Mice destinations.

One of the country’s giant developers that believed in Tacloban’s tourism potential is Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC).

After opening a full-service mall and a value-for-money hotel brand, RLC opened in 2018 a 138-room Summit Hotel Tacloban inside RLC’s sprawling 9.5-hectare property in Marasbaras, Tacloban City.

The hotel is frequented by foreign tourists and guests from nearby areas like Biliran, Samar and Ormoc.

Besides providing guests a comfortable stay, RLC also positioned the hotel as a Mice venue in the city.

The one-year-old hotel has the largest ballroom in the city that can accommodate 600 guests.

It also has three other function rooms for mid-sized gatherings that can fit up to 200 guests and three boardroom-type rooms that can accommodate up to 70 people.

According to Tiopes, RLC’s investment is a great push for Tacloban and the entire region in terms of luring tourists.

In 2018, about 1.78 million tourists came to visit Eastern Visayas, from 735,000 tourists in 2013, making the Daniel Z. Romuladez Airport in Tacloban the sixth busiest gateway in the country.

Tiopes said they expect the numbers to increase following the aggressive promotions of both public and private tourism stakeholders.

Eastern Visayas hopes to achieve 2.54 million tourists in 2022.

Attractions

In attracting the Mice market, Tiopes said the DOT expects to not only see growth in hotel and retail revenues in the host cities, but delegates are expected to discover the diverse tourism attractions within the region.

Since its opening, the hotel has hosted big functions involving the government, pharmaceutical and medical organizations.

Some of the notable attractions in Eastern Visayas are Kalanggaman Island in Palompon, Leyte; Cuatro Islas in Hindang and Inopacan, Leyte; Canigao Island in Matalom, Leyte; San Jose Skimboarding Camp; and Sabang Daguitan Surf Camp in Dulag, Leyte.

The US and Europe are the region’s top foreign source markets. Tiopes said these tourists go diving and stay at an average of three nights.

“We want to attract quality tourists to maintain our position as a sustainable destination,” she said.

To sustain the influx of guests in the region, Tiopes said she is willing to work with DOT offices in other regions like Central Visayas and their tourism players to spread the foreign arrivals to other islands in the Visayas.

Tiopes hopes the DOT 7 and DOT 8 can work together to mount a DOT-led travel fair.