(Rainy) thoughts
on domestic tourism

I'M sitting here in Legazpi, rather glumly and desperately, staring out of my hotel window looking for Mayon volcano. It is raining dogs and cats and croaking frogs, and one of the hotel staff has just told me the one and only flight coming in from Manila has been cancelled, which means I'm going to miss some important meetings.

How was the decision made to cancel a flight? She said that Mayon has turned invisible, which means planes can't come in and land safely. Apparently, Legazpi's airport just isn't equipped to handle flights in this kind of rough weather.

I'm not the only one feeling down. Every time it rains this way and flights are cancelled, residents complain about the politicians' long-standing promises to work on the airport. Each cancelled flight means lost revenues for businesses, especially from tourism.

Much has been said about domestic tourism, urging Filipinos to see the Philippines first. Many of us are taking this challenge quite seriously, but the temptation to go for foreign destinations is strong, not so much because of a colonial mentality than because of issues of costs and efficiency.

There are package tours available -- airfare and three nights hotel stays -- for as low as about 100 dollars to Hong Kong and 200 dollars to Bangkok. Compare that to what it would cost to come to Legazpi -- I'm here on official business, on a "super promo savings fare" which still comes out to 5,200 pesos. Add on the costs of the hotel and you break the 100-dollar mark.

Now if you flew in to Legazpi for Mayon, and get stranded because of the rains, as I am, that's about it. No Mayon, and really, not much else to do. There are fine beaches in neighboring towns and in Sorsogon but do you want to swim in this weather?

Legazpi's well connected to Manila and to the world, through Internet and cell phones and cable television (everything from, groan, Kris Aquino's "Ready KNB?" to Discovery channel). But there's irony here, being connected to the world, but not being able to assure flights coming in. Until we can get our travel infrastructure in place, we won't be able to get that critical mass going for tourism. Flexible schedules are fine when you're off to some remote area of the Cordillera but you can't offer three-day package tours for Legazpi and say the length of stay is subject to change, depending on the weather.

I was brought to Legazpi by Health Action Information Network (HAIN), an NGO that also wants to promote domestic tourism. The workshop could have been held in Manila but the decision to have the workshop in Legazpi is part of a policy of helping to stimulate economies outside the capital. With some 25 participants taking a three-week course, you can imagine the money being pumped in from this one workshop.

But the people at HAIN are realizing this effort to support cities outside Manila is so fraught with risks. Getting the seminar participants from different parts of the Philippines into Legazpi has been a major endeavor. Even more tense has been getting the speakers in from Manila. Originally, the lecturer for today was a professor from UP Diliman but she called in the other day having to withdraw because of health problems. This was a blessing in disguise because one of HAIN's staff, already here in Legazpi, then began to prepare to do the lecture. If HAIN had gone on with the original speaker, it would be in hot water right now because she would not have been able to fly in anyway.

Let me move away now from the point about poor infrastructure for tourism. On a positive note, I have to say the number of local hotels has increased even in smaller cities like Legazpi, offering quite decent accommodations. I'm hoping more of these hotels follow the lead of Jennifer's Garden Hotel in Legazpi, where I'm writing this column right now, or Casa Linda in Puerto Princesa. Moving away from high-rise concrete block buildings, these are more of resorts surrounded by greenery and all the rooms offering views of gardens. Jennifer's doesn't just offer greenery but, on a clear day at least, a majestic view of Mayon volcano.

Another thought about domestic tourism. A few months back I was in Puerto Princesa and signed up for a guided tour to the underground river. The river itself was breathtaking, but the trip there was a disappointment, with a tourist guide who would announce, every 10 minutes or so, that we were in "Barangay X" or "Barangay Y," without any information on the place's history, or places to see.

The saving grace was a mangrove tour where the guide was one of the residents from a neighboring community, very knowledgeable about the ecology of the area. Something similar, I feel, could be developed in Albay. When I visited the Cagsawa ruins here, I was suddenly ambushed by a group of pre-teen boys and girls, offering photographs of Mayon's eruptions. I usually dislike these hordes of vendors but there was a twist to all this as the kids began to recite facts about Mayon and Cagsawa. My unofficial guide, a first year high school student, pointed to a mango tree and said that was where the main altar of the Cagsawa church used to be. Further off she pointed out the walls of a convent. One of the boys chimed in about how many nuns and friars were caught in that convent during the huge eruption that destroyed Cagsawa.

Now why can't we tap these high school students or local residents to become guides or docents, trained to handle questions about the local area? I thought it'd be better having these high school kids doing that rather than selling photographs. I had in fact bought some of the pictures during a visit four or five years ago and wouldn't be surprised if the one who sold me the pictures was still doing the same thing now.

Domestic tourism needs to involve local communities and residents, even as the national and provincial governments do their share in terms of infrastructure support. I have no doubts Filipinos want to discover the Philippines, but we need more assurance that there will be knowledgeable tour guides, and that we can get back home safely, and on time.

So, stay put and sing rain, rain go away...