While speaking with my friend Congressman Dong Mendoza of Lipa, Batangas, he reminded me about the need for foresight among leaders. Fifteen to 20 years ahead of the expected traffic congestion in that area, Congressman Mendoza and the regional DPWH officials are already building roads and expanding the highway to avoid the problem.
The reason I’m writing about foresight today is because it is something that leaders in Cebu and the Visayas need to work on, or their provinces may lose out in terms of competitiveness.
At the moment, Cebu remains a market leader in tourism development nationwide while remaining a strong leader in commerce in the region. For now, Cebu is undoubtedly ahead of the pack as it attracts many foreign investors who are bullish about hotel and resort development. With so much blessing it is easy for people to become near sighted or limit their concern to provincial concerns only.
But that type of ignorance or indifference takes root, it could ultimately curse the province within a decade or so. As I spend some time traveling around the country, I am discovering more and more tourism related developments that will in the long run give Cebu a run for its money.
In the Southern Luzon area the continuing development of the STAR Toll way has resulted in increased access and traffic to many beaches and historical sights located in Batangas, Quezon and Mindoro provinces. Because of the short land trip more and more people are discovering Southern Luzon. In addition to this there are now bigger and better ferry services between Batangas, Mindoro and Boracay.
In the past, tourism has largely targeted the rich upper class who had the money to travel by air and stay in 4 to 5 star hotels. But now, people are discovering that the middle class tourists spends just as much money because they come as families and don’t just stay inside a hotel but move around and spread their business to various restaurants, souvenir shops and activity centers as well as for transportation.
But what kept the larger middle class from travelling was the limited choice in transportation. You either fly which was expensive or take a boat that did not provide real tourist quality accommodations. In Southern Luzon, we find more and more middle class families traveling along with other families because of the choices.
In addition to dedicated tourism destinations, the current crop of young political leaders have come to realize the need to invest in top quality convention centers that can be utilized for public as well as private affairs. Some are even investing in their own sports complex because of the added exposure, human traffic and business generated by regional and national sports competitions.
These developments are not just limited to Southern Luzon, it’s also on going in Camarines, Ilocos, Donsol, Sorsogon and of course the Subic - Zambales area. As all of these grow in size and efficiency, the current leaders such as Boracay and Cebu need to start planning and improving on their current products, services and information dissemination.
In spite of what’s out there, Cebu needs more promotion, public information as well as improvements on its accessibility. Like their competitors, Cebu’s tourism industry needs to provide an attraction and accommodation across the market and not just for foreigners or upper class couples. Perhaps, the best thing to do is to study just how attractive and competitive is Cebu in terms of product and prices.
Just as important, how sustainable and environmentally friendly is Cebu as a whole? In today’s Internet-connected world, travellers have become conscious of the environment and how this affects temperature and air quality. As an example, a big group of motoring media professionals recently flew to Beijing to attend the Beijing Motor Show.
Many of us who stayed behind were eagerly awaiting their snippets and feedback about the event and their factory visit. Instead the first complaint we read about was the fact that they could not send a lot of information because Facebook is banned in China. This was soon followed by photos sent through mobile phones depicting the legendary smog and air pollution over all of Beijing.
Immaterial or not, the fact is the younger generation of professionals travel more, talk a lot more about their travel and expect if not demand more. They want Internet connectivity, they don’t like pollution or traffic, and they want electronic banking and payment transactions, predictability and international standards of service. They also want choices. When the competition grows, will Cebu and the Visayas be able to compete? Let’s worry now and relax later. That way it’s more fun in Cebu.
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