Domestic tourism: The way to go

The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc globally. With one reported death in the USA just yesterday, this virus is practically sowing fear from east to west. As expected, more and more countries have cautioned their citizens into travelling beyond their borders.

With this development, several industries are badly hit, globally, that is. If this won’t be addressed the soonest possible time, some companies, big or small, might just fold up. Certainly, airline companies, with huge leasing costs to cover will be badly hit. In fact, several airlines have already advised most of their employees to go on leave without pay. Worse, some are retrenching.

Undeniably, the tourism industry is, likewise, badly hit. In fact, as more and more nationalities are banned from entering our country (which is the most appropriate measure to do given the circumstances) and other nations advising their citizens not to step on our shores, it seems that our tourism industry’s dream of achieving its lofty goals is slowly drifting away.

However, while it is true that foreign tourists have now come in trickles, it doesn’t mean at all that everything is lost for our tourism industry. Realistically, we can pin our hopes on our countrymen, the domestic tourists. 

For one, some local government units (LGUs) in the countryside are making strides in their tourism initiatives. The town of Sapang Dalaga in Misamis Occidental is a typical example of what an LGU can do. 

Last week, together with a consul from the Russian Embassy and Russia’s Honorary Consul Armi Garcia, we had a cruise in the town’s unpolluted river. After about an hour of such scenic boat tour, we found ourselves right at the middle of the bay in Barangay Caluya of the same municipality surrounded by several small islands feasting on fresh surgeonfish, shells and healthily processed sea urchins at a floating cottage. 

This very interesting place is now drawing domestic tourists especially on weekends.  This fact was validated by DOT-10 regional director Elaine Unchuan herself who was with us in this trip as well. More importantly, this place is so peaceful. There have been no reported skirmishes whatsoever.

This development is good news to the countryside. Remember, the countryside, even if there is no coronavirus, is not a preferred destination of most moneyed foreign tourists. Why?  Even skirmishes several hundred kilometers away from a peaceful tourist destination will always warrant negative travel advisories from other countries. So that, the countryside relies so much on domestic tourism.

Domestic tourists understand better the situation in the rural areas. For instance, our experiences in Surigao del Sur. As we all know, Surigao del sur is one of the country’s provinces that is at the receiving end of the New People’s Army’s (NPA) atrocities. Sadly though, while such encounters happened only in the mountains of two adjacent municipalities, the perception that the entire province of Surigao del Sur is so dangerous for residents and tourists alike pervade. So that, two years ago, while local tourists (me, together with some friends, included) came in droves and took a dip at the beautiful beaches of the islets in Britania, San Agustin, not a single foreign tourist can be found. 

Tourism-wise, this development is quite frustrating.  For one, these two municipalities have two of the most beautiful sites to visit which are both far from the NPAs’ lair and so accessible. Barangay Diatagon, Lianga, for one, has Bao-bao Falls, while Barangay Britania, San Agustin has beaches with Boracay-like sands in several islets.   

Moreover, there are other towns in Surigao del Sur that have so much to offer. The Municipality of Barobo has cold springs and several islets to go to. The Municipality of Hinatuan is where the Enchanted River can be found. The Tinuy-an Falls in Bislig is just so majestic. To think that these tempting places are really far from where the NPAs are and, likewise, are so reachable, it is doubly revolting. Indeed, these are mere perceptions.

However, while perception matters, it is so fleeting. It changes as quick and as often as we blink. Truth be told, the country has had harrowing peace and order related experiences in the past but we have addressed them. And now, we have the coronavirus scare. 

Learning from these experiences, it is imperative that we must assure the world that their citizens’ safety is our primordial concern. Secondly, we just have to continue to develop more innovative products, services and places of interests in the countryside. Lastly, we need to build more infrastructures and have safe and comfortable modes of transportation to make our products or tourist destinations more accessible.