Iloilo tourism goes digital

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Tourists visiting Iloilo now have a handy guide to heritage and tourism sites in the province.

Wireless services provider Smart Communications Inc. and new media startup InnoPub Media launched on Thursday their digital tourism program in the province that includes the mobile guide to Iloilo.

The mobile guide contains a list of places to go to and things to try in the province and important contact numbers. It can be accessed via phone scanning of special posters and standees at the airport, Iloilo City gallery, and various establishments. It is produced in partnership with Cebu Pacific.

The digital tourism program also includes a mobile website that allows tourists to view an interactive map of places to go to based on their locations.

To view suggested areas, tourists need to turn their gadget’s global positioning system or GPS, open myguide.ph and enable location sharing.

Special markers containing quick response (QR) codes are placed in select heritage and tourism areas in Iloilo. When scanned with a phone or tablet, the QR codes trigger the download of snippets of information about the landmark or the tourism site.

To download information, the gadget needs to be connected to the Internet and have a QR code scanner, which is widely available for downloading for free from the phone’s application market.

“Applications using location-based services and scanning technologies are becoming more popular as more devices are coming equipped with these features. We’re excited to work with our partners in building this local tourism for Iloilo City. We see this as a good model that can be adopted in other cities rich in heritage and culture,” said Nick Wilwayco of Smart’s public affairs group.

The digital tourism project is a collaboration among the city and provincial governments of Iloilo, Smart, InnoPub Media, Department of Tourism, Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council, Center for Western Visayas Studies, and Iloilo Cultural Heritage Foundation Inc.

Smart and InnoPub started their digital tourism program in Cebu City in December 2011. Now, they plan to launch the program in Baguio City and Pampanga.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has initially allotted P5 million for the ongoing restoration of collapsed sections of the Ifugao rice terraces.

The fund, coursed through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s National Commission in Manila, is intended for the rehabilitation of 8,424 cubic meters of rice fields in the 12 heritage villages in the towns of Hungduan, Kiangan, Banaue, and Mayoyao.

Earlier, Gov. Eugene Balitang said at least P200 million is needed for the full restoration of the 2,000-year-old terraces, which were damaged by intermittent erosions, landslides and earthworm infestation. The terraces were also beset by the decreasing number of farmers who maintain them. – With Charlie Lagasca