Tourism needs infrastructure

ROME – I have spent the past two weeks traveling through Europe’s prime tourism areas. In the case of Greece, tourism is just about the most visible job creator there in these hard times. Everywhere we went in Greece, from Athens to Santorini and Rhodes and even up in Thessaloniki, tourism is the major industry.

They have little manufacturing and while they still have a good maritime industry, the shipboard jobs are now held mostly by Filipinos, Indonesians and other nationalities who settle for much less than Euro standard wages. Unemployment is high as the Greek government was forced to take drastic austerity measures. Like Filipinos, Greeks who have fallen on hard times depend on their families for survival.

If anyone wants to study how to run a flourishing tourism industry, Greece and Italy are good places to do so.  Even the Turks seem to be doing a pretty good job of it, integrating the tourism related businesses with some of those in manufacturing, essentially clothing.

Bus loads of tourists are hauled not just to the Parthenon but to showrooms of leather goods manufacturers who claim to be doing work for many of Europe’s upscale brands. In one such place we were even treated to a fashion show for leather jackets.

Then, there is something as simple as local delicacies packaged nicely for tourists. In Turkey, they have this thing they call Turkish Delight, something sweet and simple in beautiful boxes, just the thing to take home for pasalubong. In Greece, they have baklavas also packaged for tourists to take home.

We have a number of similar delicacies too from polvoron to pili nut candies but our packaging leaves much to be desired. Government should help small entrepreneurs through Design Center Philippines improve packaging.

Government can also learn from the example of Turkey in helping their carpet makers sell to tourists. They will ship carpets to your doorstep tax free. They will pay for taxes and customs duties your own government will impose for the import because the Turkish government will reimburse them. I was thinking that the manufacturers of world class furniture in Cebu could use such an incentive to ramp up sales and thereby create more local jobs.

The most basic prerequisite for a flourishing tourism industry is great infrastructure. Everywhere we went, good transport infrastructure is in place. From my perspective as a tourist for two weeks, good infra makes a great deal of difference.

Roads, seaports, railway stations and yes, airports are more than civilized. The airport in Thessaloniki, a town in Northern Greece that’s probably the equivalent of Davao or Cagayan de Oro to us, has an airport complex that puts NAIA to shame.

Then there are the cruise ship terminals which have all the facilities of modern airports. And they make sure the tourists feel safe in their ports… a big challenge in our country.

The bigger cities have traffic problems too but I didn’t experience anything like EDSA even in rush hours. I suppose Rome has horrible traffic jams but we had a good driver who got us to the airport in good time during rush hour. The expressways are good everywhere we went, something like our NLEX but longer and seem to be everywhere.

Traveling seems like a lot of fun until you spend a few days leaving off a suitcase. Then it is a hustle for most tourists and you don’t really want to aggravate the situation through substandard infrastructure. Tourists want to spend as little time as possible getting to their destinations. Airports like the one we have in Kalibo for Boracay-bound tourists give a negative lasting impression that’s bad for marketing.

One other thing I noticed is how well trained our Greek, Turkish and Roman guides are in the subject matters covered by a tour. We have had excellent guides who know their history like professors and deliver their spiels with a good dose of humor.

Being the open air museums that Greece and Rome are, it is imperative that the guides know their history well to give a proper context to what visitors are seeing. They have to know their stuff because in this digital age anyone can instantly check them via Google through smart phones.

The guides are licensed by their Ministry of Culture and Tourism and they are required to undergo rigid training and pass examinations. I assume we are doing the same thing but I have no idea how well we do it.

Heritage preservation is a big thing and we have to get into that mindset if we want tourists to come. They are not likely to come to see Makati or Bonifacio Global City because they have those in their home countries and even better.

For Manila, restoring Intramuros to what it was during the Spanish and early American era is a must. They have similar walled cities in Rhodes and other Greek isles we visited and it was charming to see how well preserved they are, given the number of wars those areas have seen through the centuries.

As for our natural wonders like Palawan and Boracay, we need to preserve their natural beauty. Boracay looks like a slum area compared to Mykonos or Santorini because we allowed unplanned commercial development. The beach of Boracay is superior but that is God-given. We goofed on the development.

We need good master plans and of course strict implementation. Otherwise, we are likely to kill the tourism potential of places like Boracay. We have to be very conscious of the carrying capacity of our prime tourist destinations or risk killing the goose laying those golden eggs.

I am now starting to think that our tourism arrival targets may prove unattainable because of our infra gap. The marketing challenge of Sec. Mon Jimenez has more to do about convincing fellow cabinet members to get off their fat asses and deliver those airports, seaports and expressways real fast.

As it is now, Sec. Mon can only play around at the periphery of his mandate. To go big time lies in the hands of DOTC Sec. Jun Abaya and DPWH Sec. Babes Singson.

We can grow hoarse proclaiming to the world It’s more fun in the Philippines yet fail to meet our ambitious targets. Some adventurous ones may indeed come to find out if it’s true. But once they get stuck in the shabby Kalibo airport or the world infamous NAIA, reputably the world’s worst, word of mouth will kill future efforts.

I have seen first hand once again how a good tourism industry can create jobs for people in the big cities as well as in countryside. In the case of Greece, it is a savior for many Greeks in this time of crisis.

I can imagine how tourism can be a huge generator of foreign exchange too, just like the BPOs. What I cannot understand is why the rest of our government can’t seem to get beyond lip service in going all the way to get tourism really going and waste all the hard work and genius of someone like Sec. Mon Jimenez.

A Catholic coffee break

Four Catholic men and a Catholic woman were having coffee in St. Peter’s Square.

The first Catholic man tells his friends, “My son is a priest. When he walks into a room, everyone calls him ‘Father’.”

The second Catholic man chirps, “My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call him ‘Your Grace’.”

The third Catholic gent says, “My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room everyone bows their head and says ‘Your Eminence’. “

The fourth Catholic man says very proudly, “My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him “Your Holiness.”

Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men give her a subtle, “Well....?”.

She proudly replies, “I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38DDD breasts, 24” waist and 36” hips. When she walks into a room, people say, “ Oh My God “.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@boochanco