Bicol’s ‘megalink’ cashes in on tourism

MANILA, Philippines - Things are certainly looking up for the Bicol region with the formation of a “megalink” which will harness the combined economic and tourism potentials of the resource-rich provinces of Albay, Masbate, and Sorsogon.

Dubbed the Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon Tourism Alliance (Almasor), the cluster was created by the Bicol Regional Development Council (RDC) for an integrated promotion strategy of the sub-region.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda, who initiated its inception last year, said that the alliance is a pioneering concept in tourism promotion to provide Bicol’s ever-growing number visitors more travel options.

The region posted about 2.9 million domestic and 772,886 foreign tourist arrivals or a total of 3.7 million tourists last year, an increase of eight percent over the previous year.

He revealed that Albay posted a 49 percent arrival growth in 2012, making it the fastest-growing destination—almost doubling in domestic tourism and 23 percent in foreign tourism.

The economist governor also pointed out of the 251,000 incremental tourists, it had a market share of 67 percent, or two out of every three new tourists going to the province in the previous year.

Salceda, who also chairs the RDC, said that the Almasor was forged to ensure a more cohesive promotion of the three provinces, which all possess inherent world-class tourism potentials, also in terms of infrastructure.

He noted that since its creation in March 2012, there have been significant benefits to the cluster, especially on tourist arrivals and infrastructure.

The national government is infusing P900 million for road projects in Masbate, P1.25 billion in Sorsogon and P1.56 billion in Albay. In addition, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. earlier approved a P1.4-billion tourism support infrastructure package for Albay.

The flagship project in the pipeline is the P3.6-billion Southern Luzon International Airport in Daraga slated to be finished in 2014. The all-weather airport, which will be the region’s main entry point, is expected to further boost tourist arrivals.

Other priority projects include the modernization of Philippine National Railways railroad tracks up to Legazpi City, the P250-million Mayon International Convention Center, and the P278-million Albay Sports Center.

The Almasor megalink complements the Catanduanes-Camarines Sur-Camarines Norte Tourism Link (CCTL), another Bicol regional cluster which has formed earlier.

Salceda expressed hopes that Albay will surpass its 2012 performance due to the introduction of the Almasor in the Internationale Tourismus-Börse in Berlin, Germany this month.

The province and the rest of Almasor is featured as a highlight destination at the Philippine Pavilion, the world’s largest tourism trade fair, which is visited by some 170,000 visitors and 11,000 firms from 180 countries.

He said the province aims to lure 650,000 foreign arrivals annually within five years which will boost tourism-related enterprises in the province.