The 32nd annual edition of the Travel and Tours Exposition finally closed its doors to the public yesterday, with tens of thousands of visitors visibly delighted, bringing home with them valuable lessons and insights on how to attract, convince, entice, and cajole travelers to a place called tourist destination in the lexicon of the tourism sector.
As a newbie in tourism, I attended the exposition, bringing along Ralph John Fedelin, my indefatigable municipal tourism officer.
The three-day interactive travel and tour event, held at the cavernous SMX Convention Center located at the sprawling grounds of the Mall of Asia in Paranaque, sparked the question which is the title of this piece, and which the grand event provided a glimpse of an answer.
I asked Sandi Patti Rodenas this question. Sandi, who as Romblon’s provincial tourism officer carries the yeoman’s task of promoting the province as a place for tourists to visit, see, feel, and experience, simply gave an impish smile.
Actually, I have posed the same question way back to Vice Governor Armando “Arming” Gutierrez who said a lot of work still needs to be invested to put Romblon in the map of local and international visitors.
I believed Vice Gov. Arming, because at the exposition, I have seen in miniature full-color the attractions of Palawan, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, and Marinduque whose booths make up the DOT MIMAROPA pavilion, together with Romblon’s. For now, set aside the comparison—and the competition—because it was apparent Romblon lags way behind in tourism development despite its proud boast of a beach, Bonbon, ranked 45th in the list of the world’s 50 best beaches.
What else? Oh, there is Mt. Guiting-Guiting and its virginal forests that could attract mountaineers and nature-lovers, except that no one seems to mind how to bring in the travelers, in droves, to partake of the experience of climbing a mountain. Surely, there could be a somewhere to start off to do this?
The beauty of going to events like this is that you get to see where you’re at vis-à-vis other provinces, or cities, or municipalities in terms of tourism development. When you see that a destination is packaged better, or a service is provided well, or that a certain destination is enlivened by a story about the place, you get the jolt. You are challenged. You are provoked into thinking: “What do we do about Romblon now?”
“We join them if we can’t lick them,” I told RJ Fedelin. I meant we should participate in next year’s exposition.
“All 17 municipalities must join next year,” I challenged Sandi.
Is there a problem with Romblon’s 17 towns participating in a global tourism event and adding to the provinces of Camiguin and Davao del Sur, the only provinces that got their own pavilion in this year’s edition of the exposition? Could there be a problem if Sibale joins next year and compete with the municipality of Malay which, being the owner of Boracay, had its own pavilion, too? Nah! There shouldn’t be a problem with that.
A total of 318 exhibitors participated in the event. A veritable who’s who in the airlines industry, hotels and resorts, travel agencies, banks, insurance, food manufacturers, ocean cruises, health and wellness, and tourism services providers occupied ornately-designed and lavishly-furnished pavilions and booths where displays of visitor attractions, wares, mementos, and tourism-related services were either in large neon signages, giant television screens, and glossy flyers and brochures, some of which were badly written and peppered with atrocious grammar.
But never mind this observation. Visitors come to a place for the unique experience, not for some impeccably written masterpieces.
Thirteen regional offices of the Department of Tourism left no stones unturned to compete for the attention of expo goers. At the DOT MIMAROPA pavilion, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Palawan and Romblon each occupied well-decorated and furnished booths where products unique to the respective provinces were displayed, either for sampling or for sale.
At the Romblon booth, Ayesa Maric Minano and her boyfriend, Joshua Martinez, presided over their displays of marble products under the brand, JMC Marble Crafts and Design. The Obra Manabo Weavers’ Association, of San Fernando, displayed unique, beautifully-designed handicrafts.
Another exhibitor was M.Y. Farm which produces caffeine-free, anti-oxidant, and fat-burner herbal teas, dragon fruit wines, jackfruit jams, dragon fruit jelly, and dried dragon fruit. The farm’s owner, a foreigner with a Filipina for a wife, cultivates a three-hectare fruit farm in Barangay Agpudlos, San Andres.
Lilian Brenswald, a Calatravanhon who married a Swiss from Zurich, Switzerland, was at the exposition to promote Ngak-Ngak Beach Resort, a hidden gem of a seaside paradise in Barangay Linao, Calatrava. The resort has only six rooms for now, but Lilian said she plans to expand the resort soon.
From the capital town, only Pamasyar Transient Inn joined the exposition, a tell-tale sign of the state of our accommodation facilities for tourists. I mean, there are plenty of hotels and resorts in Romblon, Romblon, but where were they? Why didn’t they join the fair? Aside from accommodation, Pamasyar Transient Inn, located near Fort San Andres, offers culture and heritage tours, the now popular Romblon Ikot Tour, and island hopping.
Another sign of Romblon’s struggle in its tourism development effort was the noticeable absence in the event of tourism officers from the municipalities. Krisza May S. Ganovia and Eliaprence M. Galin of San Andres; Arturo Muros of Ferrol; Marie Antoinette Macagaling of Banton; Jerome Madrona of San Fernando; and Ralph John Fedelin of Sibale were the only municipal tourism officers around. Sandi was joined by her staff, Jenny Vi M. Marzonia and April Domen.
Well, attendance to tourism fairs and exhibitions is never the sole barometer for success in attracting tourists. But while the rest of the country is going gaga over tourism; while local governments all over walk the extra steps—and spend huge sums—to entice visitors; we in Romblon only derive comfort from beating our breasts about the beauty of Romblon, and seem not to match our words with deeds. Economically, we can’t be the fastest-growing province if we don’t factor in tourism revenues. Our 7.3 percent in GDP growth in 2024, down from 9.8 percent in 2022, could not be sustained without the outside world coming to us. That’s fact.
Now, let’s go back to the question on what we should do for Romblon to become known in the tourist markets.
I don’t know.
But take the cue. Sibale has just started to receive a handful of tourists and will not become a tourist destination in the full sense of the term until 2028. By then, Sibale would already be pinching for a share of MIMAROPA’s 2.7 million visitors yearly—and still growing—the majority of whom prefers Palawan.
Email me at balitsaw@gmail.com if you want to tour Sibale..
