At the peak of the global expansion in 2007, growth in tourism in Central Visayas also peaked. That year, tourist arrivals went up by more than 35 percent for foreign tourists and around 15 percent for domestic tourists.
When the global economic crisis came in 2008, tourist arrival in Central Visayas did not decrease but it was apparent that the number of tourist arrivals no longer increased at the same rate as before. From over 35 percent in 2007, foreign tourist arrivals grew only by less than 15 percent in 2008 and by almost nothing in 2009. Perhaps, on account of the aggressiveness of the local airlines to promote travel by slashing their fares, growth in domestic tourist arrivals did not decline as fast as that of the foreign tourist arrivals. The growth rate in foreign tourist arrivals quickly reverted to its fast pace, however, as the global economy recovered. It grew by more than 5 percent in 2010 and by 15 percent in the first half of the year.
Why talk of tourism in Central Visayas? It is because in the country, the Central Visayas region, particularly the islands of Cebu and Bohol, showed remarkable strength in attracting more tourists. Tourism is a powerful engine for creating more jobs that provide livelihood to many people, which, unlike business process outsourcing, includes the poor workers who are absorbed in the growing number of tourism related business services.
I was in Bohol for two days last month. From Cebu the fastest means to reach Tagbilaran City, Bohol’s capital, is by taking the fast watercraft. It will land you in Tagbilaran City in two hours. The plane is faster, of course, but if you consider the time going to the airport in Mactan and the time needed for check-in and boarding, it will actually take much longer to reach Bohol by air than by fast watercraft. Travel by plane is expensive too.
Proof that tourism in the region is alive is the fast watercraft business. In that Thursday morning ride that I took to Bohol, all seats were taken. At the port of Tagbilaran when we arrived, my wife Ale and I were almost the last to disembark. No sooner had we left the boat when the passengers for Cebu rushed in. I knew that all seats were to be taken again.
Tagbilaran City is where much action is found in Bohol. It is also from Tagbilaran that you jump off to Panglao Island where you can cast away all your troubles by lying down on one of the white beaches. Tagbilaran City last month surprised me. I was there first in the mid-1980s. Then traffic was very light even in the main street and the commercial area comprised only a few blocks in the heart of the city. In the 1990s, when I was in Tagbilaran more often, the same situation prevailed. Now it is different. The central business district is wider and traffic is chaotic at the main street.
On my first night in Bohol with my colleagues from the National Economic Development Authority in Cebu, we went to the public market for dinner. I was told our dinner would be “sky-is-the-limit” style. I was hungry so I was excited. What I eventually found was a market side eatery in an open space with few tables. “Sky is the limit,” I realized, meant eating in a place without a roof. Anyway the food was good. I enjoyed going back there whenever we were in a hurry for dinner. Otherwise, my other favorite was the eatery at a place called “Mangahan” or Manga, a few kilometers from the heart of the Tagbilaran. There you could find plenty of fresh food and choose what to cook for dinner. I am not sure if it is still there now.
I was with a five-person team from the Manila-based REID Foundation in that trip to Bohol that I took last month. Our first business was a meeting with some members and officers of Bohol Chambers of Commerce. In that meeting the REID Team talked about how Bohol’s tourism can be made to grow further. Naturally, the discussion tilted immediately to the need for a new airport to be built in Panglao Island. I know from my previous trips in the 1980s and 1990s the poor condition of Tagbilaran Airport so I understood their concern. As a guest I just listened. In the end, I was asked to say something. I said that we also worked with the REID Foundation in Cebu and that my interest in joining the team in Bohol was to see what they were doing. I added that Bohol and Cebu should work together in aiming for more tourism business and that together we could achieve more because many tourists in Cebu also proceed to Bohol and vice versa. They agreed.
In the evening we met Gov. Edgar Chatto of Bohol. I was happy that the governor still recognized me. He was vice governor when the AusAid assisted Central Visayas Water and Sanitation project that I managed in the 1990s put up water supply projects in 11 municipalities in his province. In the meeting, I found the governor well-informed and came to believe that Bohol is in good hands. Which proves that Bohol’s topping the most recent result of the Department of Interior and Local Government’s Local Governance Management Performance System was not a fluke.
Dinner followed at Miravela’s, Bohol’s famous seafood restaurant, hosted by the President of Bohol Chamber. She offered us crabs, lobsters and a lot more to eat and eat we did to our hearts’ content. Feeling full, Ale and I walk around and had some pictures taken for souvenirs while the team continued talking. Then we sat in one of the tables by the poolside, ordered some drinks and listened to the music from the local band which was playing on the opposite side of the pool. It was a very entertaining and relaxing night. Not many people were in the restaurant that night but I was told that many, including foreign tourists, come to Miravela’s at noon for lunch. If they do, I know that they will go home with the Miravela’s in Bohol etched in their mind.
By 10 p.m. we finally went to Amarila’s Resort in Panglao to retire for the night. In the morning, we ate our breakfast late. Then I realized after looking around that in the building where the guests are received and where the restaurant is housed, one can see a lot of things from the past. First I saw an antique telephone set placed on the wall near the table where we ate. Walking around and going upstairs I saw more like the two pieces of something we called at home “berso.” When I was young a “berso” was used to create a booming sound (like the burst of the big canon) during our fiesta. I do not hear its sound now. There was an old Singer sewing machine with a crank to make it work. It looked much older than what we had at home when I was young. There were plenty of old cooking utensils. What fascinated me most was the wooden “boloniyo” and metallic “baterol” like the ones that my mother used to make our morning “tsokolate.” I could tell you more what old pieces of old things I saw at Amarila’s but my space here would not suffice. If interested, go to Panglao and see the place.