Philippines Top Tourist Destination (post it here)

[julfinch]

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^^ Cebu is still the top tourist destination (combined local and foreign) compared to CamSur,it's just that the Conde Nast readers preferred Luzon Island as top island destination(as CamSur their thrusting force in tourism) and Cebu was kicked-out from the list.It's only in the magazine's reader's choice though.

[leebert]

nice pod ang siquijor island

[sharkey360]

Bobit Avila speaks!

Camsur had imagination. What about Cebu?

A couple of months ago, during a Gawad Kalinga (GK) meeting with Tony Meloto, I was able to hear the talk of Camarines Sur (CamSur) Governor Luis Villafuerte who gave his audience all the negatives of his home Province and through their own creativity, he told us how he was able to turn things around for CamSur to the point that it has become one of the top tourist destinations in the country. Just to correct Congressman Tomas Osmeña, CamSur only beat Cebu in one quarter of last year, but Cebu still retained its leadership as the country’s number one tourist destination.

Call it unfortunate that Rep. Osmeña used this issue to take potshots at Governor Gwen F. Garcia, but the reality today is that we Cebuanos have become too complacent with our tourism boom that we really have nothing much to offer for tourists to come and see. Sure we have our Sinulog, which began a long time ago when Rep. Osmeña was in exile in the United States. But after the Sinulog, what else has the City of Cebu to offer our tourists? Did you see how bad the roads are in Mactan’s major tourism hotels?

When the Heritage Monument needed lights, the City of Cebu couldn’t even give funds for this project. The funds had to come from former Tourism Secretary Ace Durano. Rep. Osmeña can throw brickbats at the Governor’s Suroy-Suroy program because this is a free country, but whether he likes it or not, it has done more to enhance our tourism in Cebu, especially in the far-flung areas which have become tourism destinations on their own. Without the Suroy-Suroy, there would be nothing to see in the Province. Bantayan Island is a good example.

When I talked with Gov. Villafuerte, I congratulated him for his creativity for turning his far-flung province into a real tourist destination. After all, Disneyland and Universal Studios are mere figments of man’s imagination and obviously, there’s plenty of that in CamSur. But here in Cebu, we not only do not have any imagination, we are cursed by our quarreling politicians who ought to know that old saying, “United we stand, divided we fall”. If Cebu fails, we should blame our politicians who try to upstage one another. Let’s just hope that someday, our politicos would “bugsay” in one direction for the love of Cebu and not for the promotion of their own bloated egos!

Incidentally, I got good comments, some thanking me for the article we wrote about the exploits of Pantaleon “Leon Kilat” Villegas who came from Bacong, Negros Oriental, just a town away from Dumaguete City, who was authorized by no less than Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to team up with Cebuano Katipuneros and rise up against Spanish rule.

But now that we’ve “exposed” the shortcomings in telling our own history, people wanted to know what we ought to do about this problem. For starters, it is not difficult for the Cebu City Cultural and Historical Commission to write a short story about those fateful albeit historic four days in April 1898 when Filipinos, fed up with Spanish colonial rule fought the Spaniards and won, at least for the few days that the Spanish troops holed out at the Fort San Pedro, until the Spanish Cruiser Don Juan Austria arrived.

The exploits of Leon Kilat was filled with high drama, bravery and treachery because after they all scampered to Carcar, his own men killed our hero, Leon Kilat, in a house in Carcar (which still stands today, behind the statue in his honor) in the hope that the Spanish authorities would spare Carcar from their revenge against those who revolted against their rule. But in the end, even the traitors were summarily executed. This is well-documented; hence it is easy enough to put this story as part of the fort’s history.

In addition to that, the Plaza Independencia was built during the American time in order to honor the Filipinos who fought for our freedom and eventual independence. Why can’t we put a statue of Leon Kilat on top of a horse as a tribute to him and the Cebuanos who died in out struggle for freedom? Incidentally, Leon Kilat is also glaringly missing in the Heritage Monument that Castrillo created in Barangay Parian.

Mind you, years ago, the only statue inside the Plaza Independencia was the statue of the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay who was the country’s most loved President. But 24 years ago Magsaysay’s statue fell to the ground; no one knows why. But his good friend, the late Philippine Star Publisher Max Soliven was appalled that we Cebuanos didn’t care to fix the problem. Hence, with our now defunct group the Frequency Club, we gathered funds to get a new Magsaysay monument that Sculptor Pempe Floriano did in the garage of my mother’s house. We already have statues of Antonio Pigafetta, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi or the Augustinian missionaries around Fort San Pedro, but sadly none for the freedom fighter Leon Kilat who fought the Spaniards just like Lapu-Lapu did hundreds of years earlier!

Camsur had imagination. What about Cebu? - SHOOTING STRAIGHT By Valeriano Avila | The Freeman >> The Freeman Sections >> Freeman Opinion

[plethoraldork]

boracay
palawan

[sharkey360]

What does CamSur surpass Cebu?

Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young said members of the Cebu City Council are touring Camarines Sur province to see why it is now a more preferred tourist destination than Cebu.

The educational tour is part of the council’s responsibilities, Young said in an interview.

Observers say the booming tourism in Camarines Sur contributed to Luzon’s high ranking in this year’s Conde Naste Top Islands survey.

The vice mayor said that he wanted to dispel notions that the councilors shelved budget deliberations last Tuesday to do “suroy-suroy.”

“I don't want people thinking that we are merely going on trips without attending to our work.”

Last year’s tourist arrival figures from the Department of Tourism (DOT) ranked Camarines Sur behind Cebu by 49,535 tourists.

Cebu had 1,615,982 tourists arrivals, a 1.24-prcent increase from 2008 figures.

Camarines Sur on the other hand grew by 117.25 percent with 1,566,447 arrivals last year compared with only 721,024 in 2008.

Then DOT secretary Ace Durano said events like the 1st Aqua Fest Celebrity Challenge, Ironman 70.3 Triathlon, International Dragon Boat Competition and Bagasbas Summer Surf boosted Camarines Sur’s tourist arrivals.

Foreign arrivals, mostly from Australia and the United Kingdom rose 56.1 percent to 308,235.

In the DOT ranking, Metro Manila came in third followed by Baguio City and Davao City, which completed the top five.

Young said 10 of 18 councilors, enough for a quorum, were present at the 9 a.m. session on Tuesday.

They were to deliberate on Cebu City’s proposed P1.3-billion Supplemental Budget 5.

But Councilor Jose Daluz, chairman of budget committee, called up to request postponement of the hearing to Nov. 9 since the department heads were unprepared.

“I agreed to the postponement although reluctant,” Young said.

“Some councilors even got angry because they cancelled their vacations to attend the budget hearing.”

This was the reason they were slighted by news reports that the hearing was deferred anew due to lack of quorum, Young said.

“It was made to appear that we were going on a pleasure trip. That’s not true.”

What does CamSur surpass Cebu? - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Sports tourism used to be one of Cebu's strengths. While Cebu weakened on this category the last several years, CamSur rallied from behind and established itself as a major sports tourism player. They've got major events like an Ironman triathlon (which Cebu never hosted until now despite its long triathlon history), and more.

Promoting Sports Tourism

The almost instant success of Camarines Sur as a venue for sports tourism has already become legendary. Thanks to a very proactive and enlightened governor, LRay Villafuerte, Camarines Sur was transformed in just three years from a backwater of the Philippines, registering one of the highest rates of poverty in the past, to a province visited by two million tourists, including some of the world’s leading triathlon athletes who participate in Ironman and similar events. In no time at all, Camsur is already being mentioned almost in the same breath as Hawaii, arguably the world’s center for sports tourism.

Well, Hawaii is composed of only a few islands. With 7,100 islands, the Philippines can – given better infrastructures – readily compete with Hawaii to be the world’s center for sports tourism. One of the persons who can help convert this dream into reality is the very person who helped Governor Villafuerte bring the Ironman events to Camsur, Wilfred Steven Uytengsu Jr., CEO of Alaska Milk Corporation and the man behind the very successful basketball team, the Alaska Aces, that just won their 13th PBA title in 25 years. Mr. Uytengsu just announced the launching of XTERRA Philippines. XTERRA is the premiere international off-road triathlon brand known for the off-road races which include swimming, mountain biking, and trail running. XTERRA also holds the World Championships in Maui, Hawaii, every October.

The launching of this sports event was not the result of an impulsive decision. As a consummate business executive, Mr. Uytengsu looked closely at local conditions to see if the time is ripe for XTERRA in the Philippines. As he said in the launching ceremony last September 9, he sent feelers to various sectors and was overwhelmed by the interest expressed by trail runners, mountain bikers, and traditional triathletes. He realized that the mountain biking community is four to five times larger than the road biking community and they have been looking for more events in which to participate.

With his characteristic enthusiasm for sporting events, Mr. Uytengsu explained this new event: “What makes XTERRA so exciting? Well first of all, XTERRA is many things... not just off-road triathlon, although XTERRA is the hallmark in this category and hosts the World Championships each year in Maui, Hawaii. XTERRA is also trail running, mountain biking, off-road duathlons, open water swims, and now even stand-up paddling. This provides a multitude of opportunities for the active individual to enjoy a variety of disciplines while still being one with nature.

“These events also make it attractive to sponsors who will enjoy their association with our events that will be running virtually all year long. As you will see in the calendar in your press kits, we kick off with an off-road duathlon relay on November 7 in Nuvali and have dubbed this event “Putik Pare.” Let me just explain this very novel event. Although it is a relay, teams of two will be formed. At the starting line, everyone will line up together and when the gun goes off, one part of the team will start an 8-km. trail run. The other part of the team will run to bikes and start an 18-km. mountain bike ride. Both courses bring participants back to the same area and they will switch places. Meaning, the runners will now get on the bike and the bikers will start their own 8-km. trail run. Once both members of the team get back, they will jointly traverse a mud pit. Both team members have to be together as they finish.

As I survey the various regions in the Philippines that have the conditions (security, accessibility, availability of accommodations, etc.) to host XTERRA events, my leading candidates would be the Laguna towns around Caliraya lake; Calapan and other towns in Oriental Mindoro close to the sea or Naujan Lake; Bani, Pangasinan; Antipolo, Rizal; Batangas towns close to the sea: Cebu; Bohol; Dumaguete, Negros Oriental; and hilly towns in Ilocos Norte close to the sea. I am sure there are many others. But this list could be a starting point. Organizers are looking for venues for events scheduled for January, March, June, and November in 2011. Governors or mayors interested in attracting these events to their respective sites may get in touch with Guy Concepcion, e-mail address guy.concepcion@sunriseevents.com.ph. Those who want to participate in the Nuvali event on November 7 may register on-line at XTERRA Philippines. For comments, my email address is bvillegas@uap.edu.ph.

Promoting Sports Tourism | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

[mypetstation]

CROCOLANDIA in Talisay, Cebu

[maryascollection]

CamSur is the hot spot for tourism, so much Cebu City's officials acknowledged their success.

CamSur can teach Cebu how to focus: officials

Cebu recorded more than 1.61 million tourists, compared to 1.57 million for CamSur. In comparison with tourist arrivals in 2008, however, the same government report showed Cebu’s tourist arrivals grew by 1.24 percent, compared to 117.25 percent for CamSur.

CamSur can teach Cebu how to focus: officials | Sun.Star Network Online

pila sad budget ani?

[maryascollection]

boracay
palawan

nice ang bora for holy week?

[T1CODE]

unsa man ni flooding? mareport nga

[onig.heck]

^^^ hala spammer....