According to Fortunato Lim of the Fortune Enterprises fame, there is still a good room for
development in tourism infrastructure facilities in Bohol to make us globally competitive.

Speaking for the BCCI, Lim said the private sector can do a lot about the things we need to get right
to make Bohol a memorable tourism destination.

Himself having been sent to Phuket for a tourism benchmarking trip, Lim said Thais have a very
competitive tourism development with the help of the private sector.

At the Kapihan sa PIA aired live over DyTR, Lim said that Boholanos can still be very hopeful of the
tourism boom which is still expected to reach greater heights this year.

In fact, he said the BCCI is actively engaged in public and private sector partnerships to press on the
philosophy of cooperation.

He said the Chamber has been actively meeting with local government units and agencies to help
craft development plans to ensure sustainability.

Lim said that the Chamber sits to local planners and an urban master planner for the creation of a
zoning ordinance in Panglao, Bohol’s most profitable growth area in the next few years.

One of the problems of the tourist island is that it has not legislated its zoning ordinance yet that land
owners have a fairly free hand in their development without considering the integral development of
the place.

A good road network in the plan would help spur economic activity, an ace that could make the
island more investor friendly.

With Tagbilaran as a tourist gateway, Lim said suggestions to rid the main thoroughfares of ugly
tangles of sagging power and phone lines have been put up and could possibly be a priority to
enhance the islands tourism value. (racPIABohol)

Hinuon, kini nga panginahanglan aron mas masinati pa sa lalawigan ug sa katawhan niini ang
maayong benepisyo sa industriya nga nagsulbong.

Matud sa negosyanteng si Fortunato Lim, tag-iyag tagdumala sa Fortune Agrivet ug representante
sa Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry, kung mas mapamaayo nato ang pasilidad sa turismo,
mas bulahan pa ang mga Bol-anon sa bag-ong tuig.

Niini, nangathat si Lim sa mga Bol-anon nga maghiusa alang sa kaayohan sa Bohol ug alang sa mga
pangadoy sa mga Bol-anon sa tuig 2011. (racPIABohol)

Governor Edgar Chatto, who took the lead in crafting the country’s tourism code shared this during the recent Provincial Tourism Council (PTC) meeting held at Panda Tea Garden in Dao a few weeks ago.

Chatto clarified that the Board’s task would be to put up a unified classification of accredited tourism service providers and establishment using the star rating system, so tourists would know what to expect when they are there.

Building on Bohol tourism’s successes, several local government units and private entrepreneurs have funded for establishments and service and splurge on promotional activities without being fully familiar with the industry, PTC members said.

Not a few tourists have already shared their dismay about getting into an establishment selling itself through the internet, only to find that its accommodations are minimal.

That can happen because there is no way tourists know ahead about the kind of facilities and services the establishments offer.

As everyone wants to hitch in the tourism bandwagon, it is expected that things like this happen, agree council members.

Governor Chatto said the Tourism Code of 2009 provides for a classification board that issues a uniform standard to grade tourism products and service facilities.

Putting up the classification board should breathe life into the Code in as much as to be rated are not just the infrastructure and the accessibility and the preparedness of the facility to accept guests, Chatto added.

That way, even if establishments sell services on their own, a rating system puts them in a certain rank that tourists can easily refer, said PTC Chairman Atty Lucas Nunag. (rac/PIABohol)

During the recent full council meeting Wednesday last week, the PTC recommended the setting up of a “clearing chouse” as a way to pre-clear any proposed tourism site development to avoid duplication of tourism products.

On the recommendation, tourism stakeholders believe that setting up of a body to evaluate proposed new tourism development can further help Bohol in its efforts to boosts its eco-tourism potentials.

Tourism Council Chairman Atty. Lucas Nunag has asked the governor to come up with the body said it would be good if those intending to put up more tourism would be guided. (PIA-Bohol)

Without a reliable investor willing to risk and left with nothing but raw manpower and cascading tourism resource potential, Danao Mayor Thomas Louis Gonzaga claimed they could not just easily surrender to fate.

“We have been urging investors to come [to Danao], did not get any,” Mayor Gonzaga said in his message during the ceremonies marking the turn over of DOT grants to Bohol communities tourism development efforts two weeks ago.

Staking his political career on the line, the adventurous mayor confessed that their natural resource and the people here finally decided to get matters in their own hands.

On their drawing boards, they witnessed the slow emergence of a tourism community based tourism package that enhances their natural environment and gives its people the pride in their place.

Then the strategic and impenetrable camp of Dagohoy rebellion, the country’s longest serious uprising against Spanish authorities, Danao’s impenetrable forests, intricate network of caves, steep cliffs and rippling river has also hosted local insurgents supported by residents mired in hip deep poverty.

Now, getting government presence via the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) “Grassroots Entrepreneur-ship and Employment in Tourism (GREET) Mayor Gonzaga, said “this time the government hit the nail right on the head.”

With people now committed to develop and enhance its resources, the town has slowly carved a name as new tourist adventure destination in Central Bohol, admits Department of Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, in his recent visit to the mountainous town.

What used to be historic base camp of the country’s revolutionary leader Francisco Dagohoy, Danao now uses its almost impenetrable forests, riddling caves and deep limestone cliffs also provide a perfect opportunity for development with a new eco-educational adventure tourism (EAT) package.

“We are offering the modern experience of allowing tourists to re-trace Francisco Dagohoy exploits in the mountains here, so we offer caving, zip-lining, root climbing, rock scaling, bouldering, rappelling, navigating the rapids through rubber tubes and this time, with river kayaks,” said a local guide while explaining how to lash the safety harnesses for the zip line tyrolean traverse over the green Wahig river.

Not only that, the tour package also includes community immersion and interaction plus a countless chances for communion with nature in a park that boasts of pristine rivers, creeks, forests and cave with river system experiences.

“Experience respect for nature, the ecosystem and Danao’s history would be the main reason why tourists would come here and with locals getting livelihood, this should be sustainable, the local guide added.

Over this, Mayor Gonzaga added “It has to be the community that takes care of our environment, that is our main resource and that is livelihood for them.”

As to Sec. Durano, he said giving [the people] livelihood helps the community rid of the problem of insurgency.

To this, Gonzaga agrees, while adding that tourism is not just about jobs, but about community livelihood as well.

In addition, the country’s top tourist promoter shared that the Bohol tourism is environment-based and protecting it is just the way Danao is doing.

Now, Danao has proven that investing in its people and the resources can be a profitable experience, not just for the people’s pockets but their cultural being as well. (rachiu/PIA)

The conference, which gathered Bohol’s leading architects, engineers, builders, contractors and artists is billed “Architecture of Place, Putting Bohol in its Tourism Infrastructure and Facilities.”

As such, “it tends to lend to the Bohol tour a new vigor as Bohol now could be seen at a new facet: in the light of how local history and milieu contributes to the robust and complex system which the people showcase in their built heritage,” adds Arch. Rosario Encarnacion-Tan during a presentation.

“Beset with the recent sprouting of Swiss chalets, Spanish villas, American homes, Boholano vernacular architecture seem to cower in humble submission that a tourist or visitors fail to fully discern the local spirit,” conference organizers said.

Now, acting promptly on the observation that the present Bohol architecture is hardly reflective of its culture, the conference moved Ayala Foundation, Filipinas Heritage Library, Bohol provincial government and Holy Name University to expose participants to the traditional and the vernacular architecture as a common fiber to which new designs can develop.

Encarnacion, along with Villalon took turns at the conference in detailing the need to instill the gist of Philippine if not Boholano Architecture in the built structures to showcase the Boholono soul.

According to Encarnacion, the Philippine concept of space surrounding a space is an interesting theme prevalent in almost all old heritage structures.

Encarnacion, who has had a long list of veritable Filipino architecture designs fitted into modern structures now off her drawing boards said “spacing means putting up balconies that gaze out to gardens, emphasizing visual layers and sectional walls that open to create more spaces.”

Moreover, its is always a Boholano penchant to build their houses on stilts, one that allows more space and adds value to a unique ventilation, she said.

Putting up structures need not be expensive, she stressed, just as the use of in-expensive but indigenous materials, can easily blend with modern structures to create interesting textures. She noted that locals do not run out of ideas with amakan, bamboo, rattan, coconut and woven materials and native motifs.

The combination of local materials reasonably settling with the modern building materials can always go together, a good blend of local artisans using local technology and good designers with a feel of how to live good as a Boholano, one having a workable knowledge of Philippine Architecture and culture could bring out an owner’s final vision of the finished structure, Encarnacion said.

Over all this, tourists homing in on the structure can connect with the owner’s soul, one memorable appreciation in their journey, she pointed out. (rachiu/PIA)