SPECIAL REPORT

Last of Three Parts

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Anybody who has gone to Hong Kong knows how tourist friendly that small city is. From the sprawling Chep Lak Kok airport all the way to the central Hong Kong, the infrastructure for tourism has been laid down for years.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the province of Iloilo.

Noel Servigon, Philippine consul general to Hong Kong, said he did a short tour of northern Iloilo over the weekend after arriving via the historic direct flight of Cebu Pacific from the former Crown Colony.

"I was looking for world class resorts in northern Iloilo that I can promote to the people of Hong Kong. They took me to Anilao and as far as Carles but I did not find any," he told this writer while disembarking from the Iloilo-Manila flight last Sunday.

The lack of world class tourism facilities in Iloilo has been a long-standing issue which has yet to be fully addressed by authorities.

Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. himself bewailed this as he criticized the efforts to attract tourists to the province without first establishing a tourism program.

"What will they see in Iloilo? The floods?" he asked the media in jest weeks ago.

Indeed the list of things a first-time tourist can do in Iloilo is short -- visit old churches, see old houses, eat in local restaurants and buy local delicacies.

If a tourist is looking for beaches, he or she has travel at least an hour by boat and tricycle to the nearby island of Guimaras or a long five to six hours by bus to the island of Boracay on the far end of Panay.

The only beach in Iloilo City -- Villa Beach -- has long been neglected and suffers from the ill effects of informal settlers.

There have been moves to develop Sicogon island in northern Iloilo to rival Boracay. Sicogon has beaches with powdery sands similar to that of Boracay's and virgin dive spots that can match those of Palawan's.

However, the island, which is located in the town of Carles, remains relatively undeveloped with only few available facilities for accommodation.

But the private sector sees enormous promise for tourism in Iloilo.

Charles Lim, public relations consultant of Cebu Pacific and organizer of TravelXchange, a tourism promotion program, said Iloilo has so much to offer to tourists from Hong Kong in terms of history and culture.

"Iloilo and Hong Kong have lots of similarities, both being major port cities and both having been under British colonial rule. It's just a matter of coming up with organized tours that include historical houses, century-old churches, delectable food, and the kind of hospitality which Ilonggos are known for," he said.

Lim is also looking at tourists from Iloilo with the means and time to travel. In his recent TravelXchange, he promoted Hong Kong, Singapore and local destinations like Puerto Princesa, Davao, General Santos and Resorts World Manila, all of which can easily be reached through Cebu Pacific's direct flights from Iloilo.

Lim continues to predict that 2013 will be a good year for the travel industry in Iloilo. He encouraged more stakeholders to improve on their products such as hotels, tour packages, transportation facilities, guiding and other hospitality services to meet world class standards.*