Right attitude not platitudes

After a bad start in terms of his tourism agenda, President Noynoy Aquino gets to have a second chance.

But do he and his associates realize that in order for tourism to succeed in the Philippines, the President and his administration need to have the right attitude on the matter?

If Tourism is going to be a major money making growth industry, then the President needs to address Tourism as a real business interest of the country and not some backyard cottage industry!

I am not saying that this is the current frame of mind for PNoy.

However it is the normal attitude of certain economic or policy experts who consider Tourism as a nickel and dime business that takes too long to build with money that “could” generate better returns at a faster pace.

Most of the time, these decision makers don’t qualify as tourists, know nothing about tourism on the ground but have the power to kill or disapprove any suggestion that would enhance or develop tourism.

They miss out on the fact that tourism not only creates jobs but also raises up the skills of workers from the community through exposure to technology, training from experienced employees, and exposure to other “cultures”.

As their competency rises alongside with their income, such members of the community rise up to be leaders as well as small business owners. One look at Boracay and Coron and you can already see how many “poor” families have evolved, some even marrying foreigners and living abroad.

The right attitude requires that Tourism be treated as a priority business concern and not something that gets attention because it creates negative publicity for PNoy or his popularity rating.

For starters, a simple act of creating a cabinet cluster on Tourism would create a structure for operations and cooperation among the departments and agencies that are directly or indirectly related to Tourism.

As head of the cabinet cluster on Tourism, the DOT Secretary could then cut the red tape involved in getting the logistics and the projects off the ground. Right now, the DOT Secretary has to go through channels just to get the DOTC, DPWH, DENR, AFP and PNP for whatever support is needed.

Another thing that needs looking into is who develops and administers our tourism program.

Forgive me for making this sweeping generalization, but I sense that one reason many Filipinos are unable to appreciate the Philippines and Tourism is because rich or well-to-do people develop our Tourism programs.

These are people who never think of taking the bus to Baguio, Bicol or Ilocos province or ride a RO-RO to the south.

I could be wrong, but then it might answer some questions if the new DOT Secretary did an informal study of the various programs, brochures, TVC and promotions that have been done by the department. Are we actually encouraging local tourism just as they did during the “PAL-Lakbayan” days or am I right in thinking that it’s only for the rich.

The new Secretary has said that we must all love and be proud of the Philippines. Perhaps he should tell the people at the DOT to start loving simple Filipinos and designing programs for them.

Isn’t it strange that students from the north and southernmost part of Luzon travel all the way to Metro Manila just to go to Star City, Mall of Asia and Enchanted Kingdom as well as Ocean Park, but we hear very little on the efforts of the DOT to develop RORO tours or Philippines by Bus programs? With the growing popularity of travelling in scooters or motorcycles, what is the DOT doing in terms of destinations and stops?

Yes, Mr. Secretary there seems to be some form of discrimination or dismissal of ordinary Filipinos, who by the way receive $$$$ from their OFW relatives!

Another reason why we don’t get the boom in terms of development of tourism destinations is because of the red tape and corruption that have been put in place by so called industry experts. In the early days, all you needed was a building permit and a mayor’s license to build up a tourism project.

Then some foreign trained experts started to lobby for certain requirements in the set up or construction of resorts, hotels etc. One of the biggest instruments of corruption is the requirement for an ENVIRONMENT COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATE.

We can all argue about the good and the bad of ECC and Environmental Impact studies but I know enough people who pushed for these requirements and have become rich for providing these services. I always wondered why they wanted to be appointed to the DENR, I later discovered they were simply setting up shop!

Yesterday, I heard a radio announcer talk about how we are missing the boat in terms of tourist arrivals compared to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. This leads me to the next area that requires us to manage our expectations.

For better or for worse, we are an island archipelago, almost all our neighbors are at least an hour to an hour and a half away by plane. As I recall you can drive from Malaysia to Singapore, Thailand to Vietnam, etc. Then we are the furthest from Europe. So can we please stop making comparisons?

We can develop Philippine Tourism first for Filipinos then for foreigners.

In order to do that, let us build or establish a central tourism and information call center that can provide information, referrals on any and all Philippine tourism questions. Later we can develop the call center into a DOT hub that is linked to every region and province of the Philippines.

Through the Tourism cluster, the DOT and the DOTC can organize a tourism oriented and tourist friendly transportation assistance program where boats, ROROs, Buses etc. are registered and operate on a fixed schedule and not on the “Alis-puno” or go when full of passengers system.

There is much to be done, but if we can’t do it first for ourselves, we have no right inviting guests and we will never get it right!

While the DOTC is busy reviewing railway and RORO contracts, may we appeal to Secretary Mar Roxas to please inspect RORO vessels as well as passenger ships. How can we promote them if they are full of cockroaches and rats that run around passengers and feast on garbage cans? Are the rats and cockroaches on display as part of our maritime wildlife?