A healthier Boracay should serve as model

THE SIX-MONTH closure and cleanup of the resort-island of Boracay is an opportune time to rethink our tourism development for a more sustainable and long-term growth.

While Boracay was getting more than two million foreign and domestic tourists a year, it was on the brink of environmental catastrophe in the absence of a master plan and supporting infrastructure. President Rodrigo Duterte himself called the country’s attention to the “cesspool” that Boracay has become.

The President did the right thing when he asked his Cabinet secretaries to bring order to Boracay amid the rush to construct structures on the 1,000-hectare island. Without proper sewage and treatment facilities, the island’s residents and tourists are vulnerable to illnesses caused by infected water.

As the country’s top destination, Boracay should now be seen as a model of tourism development for other islands. Aware of this, President Duterte wants a new Boracay that is orderly, clean, livable and appealing to tourists. I am positive that a better and sustainable Boracay will emerge from its six-month closure.

Other island-destinations should follow the lead of Boracay ― Panglao, Puerto Galera, Siargao, Mactan, Palawan, to name a few. In fact, all of the country’s 7,107 islands should have proper sewage and treatment facilities, not only to make them more appealing to foreign tourists but also to make the environment cleaner, healthier and more habitable for our people.

Now is a good time to adopt a new master plan for tourism development. Both the government and the private sector have their respective roles to play to ensure that rules are followed, like the 30-meter easement from the shoreline and the preservation of the wetlands.

Nations that attract the most number of tourists are known for protecting their heritage and natural sites. They have also built world-class infrastructure, such as modern airport terminals, subways, wide roads, walkways and bicycle lanes to allow greater mobility.

It is a good thing that Boracay’s restoration as a pristine island gets the limelight now, so that other local government units will be encouraged to redevelop their own islands. We have a lot of beach resorts that will become more attractive if they get some semblance of order.

A healthier Boracay that balances environment protection and tourism can become a model for Philippine tourism. It can also be a source of pride for Filipinos. Replicated in other islands, this model can help us attract more than 10 million international visitors a year, a figure that has been achieved by our Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand and Malaysia a long time ago.

This year, the Department of Tourism targets to lure 7.4 million foreign travelers, up from the 6.62 million arrivals in 2017. Visitors from South Korea and China are expected to top one million each, thanks to our enhanced relations with these countries.

With dozens of hotels and resorts rising each year across the country, our tourism sector is bound to finally achieve the 12-million arrivals target by 2022, as anticipated by the DOT.

Tourism can be a greater contributor to Philippine economic growth. It supports the expansion of other industries such as transportation, food and retail. Data from the DOT show that in 2017 alone, international tourism receipts reached P448.6 billion, up 44 percent from P311.7 billion in 2016.

Domestic tourism is now big in this country, with over 60 million Filipinos visiting different parts of the archipelago every year. More than five million Filipinos rely on tourism and allied industries for their employment and livelihood.

The government’s “Build, Build, Build” program will help make the Philippines more attractive to tourists. The construction of a subway in Metro Manila, along with new mass transit systems, will surely add to our appeal as a tourism destination. For example, Japan’s bullet trains ― Shinkansen ― have caught the world’s attention as early as the 1960s.

We were excited to see the completion of a beautiful airport in Cebu and hope that more projects of such caliber will be constructed in the coming years. Airport connections are important to make it more convenient for tourists to enjoy the beauty and charm of this country.

Finally, we need to instill a culture of tourism among our people, starting with our airport and immigration personnel as well as taxi drivers who are at the frontlines to welcome our foreign guests.

With the right model, infrastructure and mindset, I believe we are on track to become a great tourism nation.

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This piece first came out in Business Mirror on July 16, 2018 under the column “The Entrepreneur.” For comments/feedback e-mail to: mbv.secretariat@gmail.com or visitwww.mannyvillar.com.ph./PN