Senators Sonny Angara and Nancy Binay on Friday urged the government to revitalise other tourist spots in the country, now that Boracay island was re-opened to visitors six months after its rehabilitation.
Angara, however, said the government should not opt to fully close other tourist spots while rehabilitation efforts are ongoing in those areas.
According to him, the government could implement rehabilitation plans that avoid the displacement of resort or island workers.
“The emerging success story that is the Boracay rehabilitation can be the template in rejuvenating other tourist spots but without the economic dislocation caused by the six-month closure,” he said in a statement.
Angara said it would be better to launch preemptive measures to other tourist havens to prevent a costlier process in restoring them.
“The idea is to apply preemptive measures on tourism areas that show early signs of distress before it becomes a full-blown crisis that will be costlier to correct. We can develop without being disruptive,” he said.
Angara also noted that the government should identify which transportation facilities close to tourist areas need to be improved.
“There should be constant improvement of our facilities, so our carrying capacity will grow with arrivals. We must always be ahead of the curve instead of being overwhelmed and underprepared which, in the long run, will be damaging to the ecosystem,” he said.
Binay, meanwhile, said the Senate could look at allocating budget for the study of carrying capacities of the country’s tourist destinations.
“Nakakalungkot. Marami tayong destinations. Hindi natin alam iyong carrying capacity but we are already promoting it, developing it without knowing ano ba talaga iyong kakayahan ng destination,” she said.
(It’s saddening. We have a lot of destinations. We don’t know the carrying capacity but we are already promoting it, developing it without really knowing the carrying capacity of the destination.)
She said government should now focus on other tourist spots that need government attention.
“Since on track na naman iyong rehabilitation ng Boracay (the rehabilitation of Boracay is on track), let’s move on to the other destinations that also need attention,” she said.
Binay also said she is eyeing to push for funds for other municipalities that do not have funds for their tourism masterplan. /kga