Hot, fun Philippines

The fun is heating up in the Philippines. New this week was that Conde Nast Traveler, a widely read travel glossy, just named the country “one of its 10 hottest new travel destinations for 2013.”

Its feature article on “Destinations to Watch” points to our 7,000 heavenly islands as a target for those looking for the best beaches, dive sites, underwater life and above-water fun. Singled out were Bicol, Siargao, and Palawan as must-go places. New high-end resorts Ariara Island (designed by architect George Yulo) and El Nido’s Pangulasian Island, both in Palawan, were also mentioned.

This all comes as no surprise as the Department of Tourism’s “More Fun in the Philippines” campaign has been a success and resort development is hitting its stride in the country.

Boracay has consistently come out on top beach destination lists since a few years back. Resorts on the island like Discovery Shores have been voted among the world’s best in Travel and Leisure magazine. Cebu is also top of mind in many other publications’ features, while slowly being discovered are other island destinations like Panglao and Camiguin, while Camsur, with its wakeboarding, and Ilocos, with its heritage and beaches, are not far behind.

The recently launched Philippine Yearbook 2013, which I put together for Gracie and Vernon Go, featured these key destinations in stunning aerials taken by myself and the intrepid Joel Sol Cruz.

Flying around our islands made me realize just how vast our natural resources are, and how beautiful and undiscovered many of our islands remain. The first problem is, of course, the infrastructure to get tourists to their destinations. People in the charter business I talked to say that smaller island airports and facilities are ill-maintained or non-existent.

One option is to operate seaplanes, but lo and behold, our aviation authorities do not have any guidelines for their operation. A Cebu charter company brought one in but could never operate it. Seair had a great Dornier but also never had a chance to operate it in the Philippines. We are missing a great way to get visitors to our more remote islands without the expense (and environmental downside) of airports.

Those destinations that do have airports have very badly designed terminals, many too small to handle more than one or two planeloads at a time. These terminals look like they were built by the lowest bidder and designed by someone with the least training in function or aesthetics. Many look like government motor-pool sheds. It’s no fun waiting in them. More often than not, the toilets are in disrepair, have no water or soap or have too few cubicles (even NAIA 2 has small toilets).

We do have wonderful destinations but getting too them is also a drag and many vehicles are noisy (tricycles) or nosier (motorized bancas). We should shift to LPG-powered vehicles or electric motor tricycles, jeeps and boats.

Thankfully the resorts themselves are great. Many owners now use professional Filipino architects, landscape architects, interior designers and other consultants. Environmental guidelines are now also being taken seriously into consideration vis-à-vis site selection, architecture and the treatment of the landscape.

Much still is left to be desired and there is a tendency to overbuild (as in parts of Boracay and Mactan). We have to remember that crowding out a beach with shoulder-to-shoulder resorts will diminish its attraction. We also have to remember that we do have 7,000 more islands other than those we and the world are already familiar with or getting to know.

Finally, there is the problem of manpower. We are losing almost all of our people in hospitality to overseas destinations. Even before they graduate, thousands in HRA courses take their training abroad and are offered jobs afterwards. We have to crank up enrolment and make sure that those that graduate have enough opportunities here in our wonderful islands.

Things are heating up in the Philippines and 2013 appears to be the year we are finally really discovered. Let’s just do this properly. The marketing has been fine but everything else needs retooling, re-direction and plain common sense. We need to conserve our natural resources, improve infrastructure and transport and get enough trained people to man our resorts and hotels for the millions we are sure to attract.

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Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com. The images in this article are from the Philippine Yearbook 2013. Jojo Mariano of Aeroeye Asia took the image of Puerto Princesa. The yearbook is available at all leading bookstores.