Program to lure more tourists underway
ROXAS CITY -- The provincial government of Capiz will formulate a program to entice foreign and domestic tourists to take a closer look at the province and its tourism attractions.
Gov. Vicente Bermejo led a group of tourism officers and representatives from the private sector and other government agencies in a roundtable discussion held last March 7 at the Gerry Roxas Foundation to map out strategies to strengthen the local tourism promotion and development program.
The group used as inputs for the discussion the results of the regional tourism summit held last month in Iloilo City that was initiated by the Department of Tourism (DOT).
The summit was attended by most of the members of the group including City Tourism Officer Rodolfo Maestro, Jr., Capiz Halaran Chamber of Commerce and Industry chair Jose Neri Ong, and tour operator Vicky Alair Baes.
As an additional input for group discussion, Provincial Tourism Officer Alfonso Bediones, Jr. noted that foremost among the things that tourists ask about Capiz include the famous Church bell of Panay town and the ancestral house of the late President Manuel A. Roxas.
Nevertheless, Bediones said there are other things that Capiz can offer to tourists such as Baybay Beach in Roxas City, Suhot Caves in Dumalag town, Agtaline Shrine in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dulangan, Pilar, and a variety of seafood for which Capiz has earned the reputation as seafood capital of the Philippines.
Bermejo disclosed that no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has taken special notice of Capiz's numerous tourist come-ons and encouraged him to find a way to lure more tourists to visit Capiz as an alternative destination to Boracay Island, which is located in the neighboring province of Aklan.
Pres. Arroyo has included tourism as among the spin-offs of her Ten-Point Agenda brought about by improvements in the country's transportation systems that include the Roll On-Roll Off (RO-RO) nautical highway that now covers Capiz and other provinces of Panay Island.
Bediones said the said conference will be followed up with an action planning involving other stakeholders in the local tourism sector.
(PIA-JSC)