EDITORIAL - Again, let’s protect our tourism

Canyoneering activities in Barangay Matutinao, Badian town, were ordered suspended after illegal structures were found on the easement of Kawasan Falls as well as on the canyoneering trail and site.

According to reports, aside from supposedly not being allowed there in the first place, some of the structures also presented a hazard or danger to visitors.

Apparently, they had also been there for quite some time now.

“To make matters worse, despite the findings of the abovementioned government agencies, these illegal structures and dangerous ruins were just left disregarded for over a year, thereby remaining a continuing threat to the life and safety of th e public,” Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said in her order suspending canyoneering operations.

We can’t blame the governor for issuing the order; anything untoward that happens there can be blamed on the authorities after all. And certainly anything untoward that does happen there will have a negative effect on the canyoneering activities.

This is another case of us not taking care of our tourism sites or activities.

Not too long ago a potential bourgeoning tourist activity involving floating cottages in Cordova town was shut down after it was found that the cottages didn’t have proper toilets and the waters around them began to develop bacteria from human waste.

If you can also recall, some years back the whale shark activities in Oslob town were suggested to be limited after it was found out too many tourists were being accommodated in a day and many tourists complained of “cramped” and “overcrowded” conditions on land and in the boats.

While these issues have been or are being addressed, it shows how easily something taken for granted can turn into a huge problem, or turn into something that can even threaten the tourism activity or site itself.

Again, let’s protect our tourist sites and make sure our tourism activities are sustainable.

Tourism is one of the main draws of Cebu; we should not take this industry for granted.