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The
renowned marketing guru Philip Kotler and his co-authors
wrote in their book Marketing Places:
“The
fortunes of places depend in the final analysis on the
collaboration of the public and private sectors—teamwork
among governmental units, business firms, voluntary and
civic associations, and marketing organizations. Unlike
purely business or commercial product marketing, place
marketing requires the active support of public and
private agencies, interest groups and citizens.”
The
Philippines has timeless competitive advantages. It is
only a few hours’ flight away from the rich sources of
tourists: China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Hong
Kong. The country has natural attractions such as the
beaches of Pagudpud, Panglao, Siargao, Camiguin and
Dakak.
However,
the small number and the poor quality of accommodations,
inadequacy of transportation, lax security, neglect of
the natural environment and lack of other leisure
facilities and entertainment activities in these places
have diminished their attractiveness and, consequently,
retarded their growth as tourist destinations. Most of
these tourist destinations lack hotels suitable for
foreign tourists. Neither do the urban centers nearest
them have the appropriate accommodation facilities.
Flights
from Manila to island resorts and adventure sites are
limited in number. Unsafe and uncomfortable makeshift
boats and plain outriggers carry tourists to island
destinations. Going to these destinations is not only
costly; it is also time-consuming, again making visits
to them less inviting for tourists.
Roads to
tourist destinations are too narrow to carry large
volume of tourists and too bumpy for their comfort.
Tourists going to popular places like Baguio or Caliraya
have to travel on old narrow roads that cut through the
commercial area of many towns where all sorts of
vehicles, like container vans and tricycles, are allowed
to ply, and where buses can unload or pick up any
passenger at any point, making travel much longer than
it should be.
The
physical conditions of the transportation terminals,
such as airports and seaports, are simply pathetic. The
provincial airports, other than those in Cebu and Davao,
and now those of Bacolod and Iloilo, are cramped, their
toilets dirty, appointments dilapidated and the
personnel crude. Seaports are only slightly better than
wharves in fishing villages.
Both the
national and local governments have to take the lead in
support infrastructure. The national government has to
upgrade our roadways, airports and seaports to meet the
standards of the world traveler, while the local
governments have to clean the environment of the tourist
attractions and provide security to the visitors of
these resorts.
Meanwhile, the private sector should complement the
government effort by putting up support amenities like
hotels, and transportation conveyances such as cruise
ships and ferries, that befit the standards of foreign
tourists. Sports facilities like tennis courts, hiking
paths and water-fun places have to be developed around
the beach resorts, and entertainment activities like
cultural shows and tours of historical sites organized
to provide tourists other attractions in addition to the
natural wonder of the place.
This is
the kind of public sector-private sector collaboration
the country’s tourism industry needs to spur. However,
there is another kind of cooperation between the two
sectors that has become urgently needed in the country’s
premier tourist destination—Boracay.
The
rapid growth of the world-famous Boracay is strangling
the small island. Growth is already straining the
island’s support systems, like those that supply potable
water to the hundreds of hotels, restaurants and bars,
and those that dispose of the wastes from those places.
Despite these developments, more resorts, restaurants
and other amenities such as gasoline stations are being
put up on the island at a furious pace to meet the needs
of the fast-growing number of tourists.
The
frenzied development in Boracay is not only threatening
to collapse its support systems but is also diminishing
the natural beauty of the island, the very attraction
that had drawn so many tourists. This situation is
taking place as more and more of what used to be open
spaces are being eaten up by new and bigger hotels and
by myriad vacation homes. It would be very sad, indeed,
should Boracay go the way of
Baguio, for decades the favorite vacation destination of
generations of Filipinos and the No. 1 destination of
foreign tourists because of the beauty of the natural
environment.
The
mayor and the council of Cawaling town, which has
jurisdiction over the island, should temporarily stop
all construction until the master plans of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the
Department of Tourism shall have been completed. At the
same time, the entrepreneurs and their investors should
cooperate by diverting their development plans to the
Aklan mainland, which is only 15 minutes away from
Boracay.
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“Mirror Image” is a rotating column featuring writers
from the DLSU Professional Schools Inc. Prof. Lagman
teaches various marketing courses in the Graduate School
of Business of De La Salle University. |
