Despite losing centuries-old churches and primary access to Bohol’s most famous tourist spot, the Chocolate Hills, after Tuesday’s earthquake, tourism officials are putting up an alternative package to highlight other destinations in the province.
“We see this as an opportunity to also highlight the Abatan River,” said Tourism Regional Director Rowena Montecillo.
Montecillo said Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, private sector representatives and local government officials met yesterday to discuss the alternative package and new route to Chocolate Hills while rehabilitation of primary routes to the tourist spots are
underway.
“I’m here since yesterday (Wednesday) and the Secretary arrived today. We have met with local officials and the private sector and we have come up with an alternative route for tourists to still enjoy the Chocolate Hills,” Montecillo said.
The alternative tour package involves accessing the Chocolate Hills through Cortes town following the Abatan River Cruise route.
The Abatan River passes through the towns of Cortes, Antequera, Balilihan, and Catigbian.
Montecillo said tourists go to Cortes then down to the river and ride a “bandong” to Antequera town where tourists can have their lunch.
They can then proceed to Loreto then by land, travel through Balilihan, Catigbian and Sagbayan then to Carmen where the Chocolate Hills are.
Sagbayan Park
“In Catigbian we have a park there that the tourists can also enjoy. In Sagbayan they can already see some hills and have some photo shoots,” Montecillo said.
The Chocolate Hills Adventure Park (CHAP) is a privately-owned park in Sagbayan which will be opened to the public once the alternative route will be offered, Montecillo said.
The park has an elevated area up 248 steps from where tourists can view the Chocolate Hills.
The tourists would proceed to Balilihan and then to Corella where the tarsier are found.
Montecillo said the tour will take the same length of time as the old route of about four to five hours making it viable for day tours.
fresher route
Bohol Tourism Commission chairman Peter Dejaresco said that the new route allows for a “fresher” and more environment-friendly feel to the tour because the tourists don’t drive up to the hill to enjoy the view.
“This will help although we’re still a bit apprehensive but we are hoping that this will help.”
Dejaresco said they have already received several cancellations but still cannot estimate as to how many tourists Bohol lost due to the disaster.
Montecillo said the private sector players will have a dry run of the new route this Saturday before they can start offering it to tourists.
CEBU cancellations
Today, Secretary Jimenez is expected to be in Cebu to check on the sites in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City.
“The earthquake left many properties damaged. Even our office is closed for inspection but our people are still working. We have divided into two, one for Cebu City and one for Lapu-Lapu City. They are checking on the sites in these areas and after that we will check on the hotels,” Montecillo said.
In Cebu, hotels and resorts report an average of 50 percent booking cancellations since last Tuesday’s earthquake struck, said Hembler Mendoza, tourism officer of Lapu-Lapu City.
Another 50 percent of tourists have moved their bookings to next month hoping everything will be okay by then, Mendoza said, when he met with some members of the Hotel Resorts and Restaurants Association in Cebu yesterday.
MEETING
The meeting tackled plans on ways to recoup their losses after the mass cancellations and how to win back the interest of their guests.
“They are also thinking of gimmicks and discounts to woo the tourists back,” Mendoza said.
“We are also considering offering affordable packages to local tourists.” he said./With Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza