Readers on golf tourism, taxes and over-population

Golf continues to be close to my heart, even if on many days, the sport just doesn’t seem to want me. But even then, and in spite of this love-hate relationship, the sport and subsequently the industry, is of interest to me. And this holds true for golf tourism.

My last column that encourages golf tourism in the Philippines was noticed by no less than Connie C. Mamaril, current president of the newly formed Association for Inbound Golf Tourism Philippines (AIGTP) with the registered website, www.golftourismph.com.

She sent me a letter which adds on to what I had written earlier this month. Here’s what she sent:

“Thank you for writing about the true state of golf tourism in the Philippines, which remains untapped as of today.

A hundred golf courses

“Did you know that we have an estimated 100 golf courses in the Philippines, 30 of which are located in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, easily reachable by car or buses within an hour or so.

“Our association, Association for Inbound Golf Tourism Philippines (AIGTP) registered last June 2013, and barely one year in existence, has our hands full in coming up with strategies on how we can create awareness in ‘Golfing More Fun in the Philippines.’ 

“We are closely coordinating with our Tourism and Promotions Board under the Department of Tourism, and the first tangible project delivered was the production of a golf video for the Philippines which we use in our table top selling activities in golf shows and conventions.

“We are again seeking the help of our government (DOT) to spearhead a media golf familiarization tour to the Philippines where we can showcase the various golf courses that the Philippines can offer, which is still under review by our Tourism Board.

“The recent Asia Golf Tourism Convention held last March 24 to 27 in Mission Hills, China gave our group, AIGTP, the opportunity to do some networking activities with some 500 golf tour operators and clubs worldwide.

“The 3rd AGTC was said to have been the largest-ever golf tourism event to be held in Asia, with a record 556 delegates from 40 countries. The two-day business sessions took place at Hainan International Exhibition & Convention Centre in Haikou.

“The convention participants comprised more than 200 golf tour operator buyers from over 150 companies in 32 countries, meeting with 290 supplier delegates from 150 seller companies including golf resorts, golf clubs, hotels, inbound operators and tourist boards from 19 countries across the Asia-Pacific region: China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Fiji, Mauritius, India, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Australia and New Zealand. Sixty media, dignitaries and other guests also graced the event.

“Aside from having a larger contingent this year, the Philippines’ presence at the convention was made even more noticeable with the wall ad display produced by the TPB showcasing Fairways & Bluewater in Boracay with ‘Boracay. More than just white sand’ and the announcement of the upcoming media fam tour to the Philippines in May 2014. The hype is in preparation for TPB’s bid for the Philippines to host AGTC 2016.

“We hope you can continuously do some write-ups on golf tourism to encourage more golf courses (privately owned) to open their doors to tourists without the need for a member to escort them and offer competitive green fees.”

More paperwork

Moving on to another reader, Rene S. Santiago, who sent a brief letter that contains a very legitimate concern. Calling on our diligent officials from the Bureau of Internal Revenue headed by no less than Kim Henares:

“No one (except the tax evaders) dispute the need to pay taxes. What irks me is the imposition of more paperwork and burdens on those who pay. If three out of four professionals don’t pay taxes, why impose additional requirements on the one out of four who pays?

“Take the case of the last ITR season. More than 20 pages in triplicate (equals 60, excluding attachments) whereas before only four pages.”

No correlation

The population issue continues to be controversial among Filipinos, and one of our readers whose letter was published in this column earlier this month drew notice – and a reaction – from Conchita Aunario. So we give space this time to her views:

“This refers to the article re “On Overpopulation ...” published in the Philippine Star on May 6, 2014, page B-4.

“The letter quoted in the article mentioned that because of ‘overpopulation,’ there is not much of the budget that is ‘left for infrastructure, manufacturing and agricultural support ....’ He further mentioned that there is an ‘oversupply of labor’ and ‘inadequate job opportunities due to graft and corruption.’

“The billions of pesos of taxpayers’ money allocated  to implement the RH Law can be put to better use in, as mentioned, infrastructure, manufacturing and agricultural support.

“As elucidated by Simon Kuznets, Nobel Prize winner, in the science of economics, and many later studies confirmed this: there is no correlation, ‘no clear association’ between population growth and economic development.

“Neither is population control one of the ingredients for high economic growth. The five ingredients, or growth factors, found by the 2008 Commission on Growth and Development headed by Nobel Prize winner Michael Spence are: governance, openness to knowledge, stable finances, market allocation, investment and savings.  

“The Philippines loses P300 billion to corruption every year, which is more than enough to create job opportunities to answer the alleged ‘oversupply of labor.’”

More readers’ comments and views in succeeding columns.

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