President of Headsail Inc. Angelo Olondriz discusses the potential of the boating industry in the country during a roundtable discussion in Pasay City. INQUIRER.net photo / Faye Orellana
In order to boost the country’s economic growth and tourist arrivals, a group of private boaters urges the government to come up with an executive order that would help promote the boating industry in the Philippines.
Angelo Olondriz, president of Headsail Inc., said on Tuesday that the country “has an inherent potential to be a world leader in leisure boating.”
However, he said that in order to increase the standard of the boating sector, the industry needs the help of the government in able to increase the number of registered boats.
“We need to increase boat registrations. And for boat owners to want to register, we need the help of the government,” Olondriz said during a roundtable discussion in Pasay City.
“Now more than ever, we must maximize not just our seas, but our rivers, lakes and other bodies of water as well. Boats can help move things forward for the Philippines in more ways than you can imagine,” he added.
Olondriz cites Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong as an example of those countries that had been getting support from their respective government in terms of boating industry.
He noted that there were less than 100 registered boats in the country.
According to him, the government does not need to build bridges in order to increase the number of tourist coming in the country.
For Olondriz, the administration only needs to “examine” the said industry because the country has an edge with other countries when it comes to tourist destinations.
“We should be pushing what we have. The government doesn’t have to build anything, they just have to examine this [boating industry,]” he said in an interview.
“We have what many countries don’t have. We have beautiful islands, we really do — Calayan Island, Busuanga, Coron,” he added. /jpv