Tourism target

The tourism department’s announced  target to bring in  6.3 million tourists by 2016 when President Aquino’s term ends is ambitious.

They want to double today’s volume of travelers to our sunny archipelago.

A new thrust to package the Philippines as a place to experience “undiscovered treasures and hidden gems” will depend largely on private sector momentum and the government’s support in effective marketing and basic infrastructure on thw ground.

Cebu, the no. 1 province destination with 1.7 million visitors last year, carries a big part of that challenge.

Hoteliers and travel agencies said foreign visitors want to experience riding the jeepney and strolling through the public market for the local flavor.

Yes, life in a tropical paradise is more complicated than what the picture-perfect brochures offer.

Just look at our streets and sidewalks in Cebu City, fair Queen of the South.

Group tours  have to be chaperoned  by eagle-eyed guides to steer them away from potential muggings and the sight of uncollected trash.

To let these dollar and won-paying guests walk through Carbon market on their own would court a police blotter report.

The efforts to beautify the main thoroughfares of Cebu City and just keep them orderly and trash- free need grassroot support,  not just a philanthropist’s donation or government budgets for new lampposts.

Until a civic spirit and core values of respect for others, cleanliness and honesty spring naturally from Cebuanos and in abundance, we’ll have to contend with steering foreign guests to  beach resorts and malls.

Even bringing tourists to  rural areas in the Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo struggles with the same gap each year of  not being able to find convenient,  clean toilets en route to the  countryside.

The  Asean City of Culture award that was bestowed last week on Cebu City  recognizes it has precious  intangible wealth –   heritage, culture and history. No other city in the country has all three criteria, hence the extra honor.

The challenge is to bring out this wealth in daily realities.

These are as simple (and difficult to deliver) as orderly traffic, parks and well lighted  streets that set off Cebu’s  nine museums.  Taxis and jeepneys with drivers who keep their units and themselves  neat and presentable.

There’s a complex of other challenges facing Cebu’s tourism industry, including the paradox of DOT complaining about  “lack of rooms” while hotels and resorts wonder how to keep occupancy at high  levels, not just during peak period.