Miss U candidates’ tours skip Bohol

TAGBILARAN CITY , Philippines— The province of Bohol was excluded in the visit of Miss Universe 2017 candidates, according to newly installed Regional Director Catalino “Dodong” Chan III of the Department of Tourism-Region 7.

Chan, who was also the brain of the successful Lanzones Festival of his hometown in Camiguin Island, however, said the DOT will help instead promote the Ubi Festival of Bohol as an international event.

Chan announced to the crowd at the Bohol Cultural Center—during the launching of the Ubi Festival exhibits at Plaza Rizal in Tagbilaran City last Friday—that he had just assumed the post of regional director of DOT-7 last December 16.

In an exclusive interview with The Freeman, Chan said he wished Bohol was included in the itinerary of the Miss Universe candidates’ tours, but time constraints only enable them to visit Lapu-Lapu City in Mactan Island, and even Cebu City was skipped.

Many tourist operators and stakeholders thought all along that Bohol would be one of the tourism sites to be toured by the Miss Universe bets. It has been quite a while since beauties of Miss Universe visited the province sometime in 1994 when the country’s bet was then Charlene Gonzales.

Last year, 48 aspirants for the Miss Global crown were in Bohol for the swimwear competition at the posh Henann Resort in Panglao town.

Chan said the DOT will help Bohol in the promotion of the Ubi Festival. “If we were successful in promoting Lanzones Festival in Camiguin, we should be successful in the Ubi Festival in Bohol,” he said.

Cebu is now reviving the long lost popularity of mango, but it’s Guimaras’ mango now becoming popular. And while Ozamiz is now promoting its dragon fruit, Bohol should push its ubi rootcrop, Chan said.

Meanwhile, the tourism official said Bohol will still benefit from Cebu’s tourist arrivals—about 4.3 million as of January this year—due to the connectivity of flights, after Cebu opened a connecting flight from Los Angeles in the United States and another five from the Middle East and China, said Chan.

Bohol has a fair share in tourist arrivals with some 68 percent of the foreign visitors who landed in Cebu preferred to go to Bohol. “That’s something else in terms of economic activity,” Chan said.

Chan and Governor Edgar Chatto led the ceremonial ribbon cutting during the opening of the Ubifest exhibits of different ubi products, from Friday until yesterday. (FREEMAN)