Inclusion of 2 more tourism areas in Region 8 pushed

published November 09, 2010 in BusinessWorld

TACLOBAN CITY -- The regional office here of the Department of Tourism (DoT) is pushing for two more tourism development areas (TDAs) in Eastern Visayas.

Karina Rosa S. Tiopes, DoT regional director, said the second district of Leyte and first district of Samar host tourist destinations such as natural parks, rivers, waterfalls, and war memorial sites.

"We saw the need to create these TDAs and there’s also a clamor from the local government and other tourism stakeholders to include these (areas). It is just unfortunate that when the central office made the plan, these two areas were not included," Ms. Tiopes said in a phone interview yesterday.

The Central Philippines Tourism Super Region Management Plan adopted by the Regional Development Council last year identified TDAs in the region as the Samar-Leyte Interface (Tacloban-Basey), Northwestern Leyte (Ormoc), Northern Leyte (Biliran), Southeastern Samar Island (Guiuan), Southern Leyte (Sogod Bay Area), and Northwestern Samar (Catarman).

A workshop scheduled for the new tourism areas early next year will identify constraints to development and parties that will address specific concerns.

The Tourism department said development of these areas should bring nearly half a million tourists to Eastern Visayas by 2016.

Among the sites considered for development in Leyte’s second district are Mahagnao Volcano and Natural Park, rivers and World War II battle sites.

Samar’s first district, on the other hand, is known for waterfalls, especially in Calbayog City, caves and water sport areas in coastal towns.

"Many of these destinations have no access roads. Infrastructure development is a top priority. With the development of new areas, tourists will have a different experience in each cluster," Ms. Tiopes said.

In a separate telephone interview, Department of Trade and Industry regional director Cynthia R. Nierras, who heads the regional tourism coordination committee, also cited problems like disorganized airport services, insufficient land transport facilities, dishonest and opportunistic service providers, substandard accommodations, lack of interpreters, lack of restrooms and substandard waste management, as well as absence of an established tourist feedback scheme. -- Sarwell Q. Meniano