Private groups take big roles in Metro Clark tourism efforts
ANGELES CITY—The private sector has boosted the tourism prospects of Metro Clark (Clark Freeport, Angeles and Mabalacat cities) and Pampanga.
The American company Peregrine Development International Inc. (PDII), developer of the 177-hectare Global Gateway Logistics City, has opened www.clarkisit.com, a corporate social responsibility portal.
“We saw a need to put more information online about Clark and Pampanga so that the tourism public can manage their tour itinerary,” said Jeff Pradhan, vice president for sales and marketing of Peregrine Management LLC Inc., shortly after the website’s June 19 launch at SM City Clark here.
As a virtual one-stop shop, www.clarkisit.com provides updated information about the area’s restaurants, hotels, significant places, tours, important events, health and lifestyles. It also comes with a guide for expatriates and a directory of business locators in Clark.
The website is powered by a team that is “enthusiastically driven by the same passion of an inquisitive traveler and adventurous soul.”
PDII also helped renovate two hospitals in Angeles and Mabalacat cities and had restored and maintained the Clark cemetery alongside the nonprofit group Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Travel guide
The 70-member Hotels and Restaurants Association of Pampanga (Harp) also rolled out its travel guide at the June 19 launch.
“It’s a compilation of all the things we love about Angeles City and Clark,” said Mitchi Kaye Otsuru, Harp president and the guidebook’s editor in chief.
“This aims to give our local and international tourists a brief summary of what the city has to offer, from activities to do in Angeles and Clark, exciting tour packages to calendar of events.”
“Buenas Angeles!” is how Harp members now greet their guests.
Harp also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and PhilExport to support the marketing of products made in towns and cities in Central Luzon.
Ronaldo Tiotuico, regional director of the Department of Tourism (DOT), said the initiatives of PDII and Harp are “about public-private partnership, where nongovernment organizations cooperate with the government in marketing and promotion of travel and tourism.”
“It’s a showcase of what can be achieved through collaborative effort: Harp plus www.clarkisit.com and the DOT, with the DTI,” Tiotuico said.
The partnership, he said, was part of the preparations for the Asia Pacific Economic Council summit in 2015 and the World Economic Forum, which the Philippines is hosting.
Citing local tourism industry data, Tiotuico said tourists spend $85 a day on rest and recreation in selected spots in Central Luzon.
They stay for at least four to seven days. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon
