NU 6: Part Time Opportunistic Tourist
By: Christian Rafael
Regis MBA - Iloilo
The fun starts December here in the Philippines and especially here in Iloilo it follows through up to February. After Christmas, we have the New Year then the Dinagyang Festival, the Chinese New Year (which i believe only Iloilo and Binondo is celebrating) after which we have the Candelaria Fiesta in Jaro one of the biggest fiestas in the Philippines attracting high rollers in the Cock Fighting industry. And this does not take into account Ati Ati Festival which is a mere 3 hour ride from Iloilo to Kalibo or Cebu's Sinolog Festival also 15mins away by plane. Definitely there is a lot that is happening in these months in the Visayas.
There is something in tourism that i believe will help greatly the Filipinos, being a service base industry. People here can speak english fluently, and more and more foreign tourist visit the country every year. Not just that, but also with the advent of cheap flights available to locals, domestic tourism is also on the rise.
Aside from that, the local government of Iloilo is ramping up tourist friendly projects like the "Esplanade" and the "Carless Calle Real". The local government is also working with schools in developing trainings for tourist guides that they may be able to explain and guide the tourist coming.
The problem i see really is that the structure to increase tourism is already there. Iloilo is one of the most touristy cities in the Philippines, with Boracay - the biggest destination in the Philippines they say, a mare 5 hour drive but inspite of that nobody is marketing it correctly - or marketing period. We have tourist but i consider them incidental where in they are already here or they already planned of going here despite not hearing anything about the tourism in Iloilo. I think its important now, though i bit late already, for the local government to invest and spend for the tourism industry here in Iloilo, We cant wait for the DOT as their Chairman has already said they cant spend anything for a specific destination, what they can only spend on is for the whole country. 3 (more smart suggestions)
The fun starts December here in the Philippines and especially here in Iloilo it follows through up to February. After Christmas, we have the New Year then the Dinagyang Festival, the Chinese New Year (which i believe only Iloilo and Binondo is celebrating) after which we have the Candelaria Fiesta in Jaro one of the biggest fiestas in the Philippines attracting high rollers in the Cock Fighting industry. And this does not take into account Ati Ati Festival which is a mere 3 hour ride from Iloilo to Kalibo or Cebu's Sinolog Festival also 15mins away by plane. Definitely there is a lot that is happening in these months in the Visayas.
There is something in tourism that i believe will help greatly the Filipinos, being a service base industry. People here can speak english fluently, and more and more foreign tourist visit the country every year. Not just that, but also with the advent of cheap flights available to locals, domestic tourism is also on the rise.
Aside from that, the local government of Iloilo is ramping up tourist friendly projects like the "Esplanade" and the "Carless Calle Real". The local government is also working with schools in developing trainings for tourist guides that they may be able to explain and guide the tourist coming.
The problem i see really is that the structure to increase tourism is already there. Iloilo is one of the most touristy cities in the Philippines, with Boracay - the biggest destination in the Philippines they say, a mare 5 hour drive but inspite of that nobody is marketing it correctly - or marketing period. We have tourist but i consider them incidental where in they are already here or they already planned of going here despite not hearing anything about the tourism in Iloilo. I think its important now, though i bit late already, for the local government to invest and spend for the tourism industry here in Iloilo, We cant wait for the DOT as their Chairman has already said they cant spend anything for a specific destination, what they can only spend on is for the whole country. 3 (more smart suggestions)
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