Park Inn by Radisson Clark

Clark in Pampanga is enjoying a tourism investment renaissance, thanks to the forthcoming expansion of its airport and the growing number of property developers lured by prices half of those in nearby Metro Manila.

Poised to become the premier gateway in Pampanga once completed, the construction of Clark International Airport’s new passenger terminal building will begin in 2016. It will have a capacity to handle three million passengers a year.

The second phase will be an expansion of the same terminal building so it can handle an additional five million passengers annually.

Several foreign airlines already operate to Clark International Airport. Even AirAsia Philippines, whose hub is now in Manila, would want to return to Clark if the planned road network connecting to Manila/Makati pushes through.

On the property front, the 164-key Park Inn By Radisson recently opened in December in Clark while the 77-key Best Western Plus Hotel opened in Subic. Both are aimed at business and leisure travellers.

Located in the 288ha Clark Green City, the five-star Midori Clark Hotel and Casino has soft-opened in December. The 111-room establishment boasts outdoor bathtubs on balconies in some of its suites. Rooms also feature high-end Dedon furniture, Sealy beds, and Acca Kappa and L’occitane bathroom amenities.

Darlene Achumbre, assistant sales and marketing manager of Midori Clark Hotel, said Clark is already a fast-growing business and leisure destination, and that the expansion of Clark International Airport will create more flights, improve business prospects and boost tourism.

Set to open in 2017 is the 260-room five-star Marriott at Clark, launched in partnership with the Korean owner of Widus Hotel & Casino, which has also invested in a 600-seat convention centre.

Also, Korean company Donggwang Clark Corp will build an international hotel brand in its Clark SunValley Resorts and Country Club. The property’s two 18-hole championship golf course are already open.

Clark’s potential was why Afro Asian Travel and Tours president and managing director Angel Ramos Bognot decided to base the annual international event, B2B Travel Business Exchange, in Clark, beginning since 2015.

“Logistically speaking, Clark makes (the show) easy to manage; it’s near Manila, it’s safe and secure and the airport is one of the best in Asia. It’s a growing destination,” Bognot pointed out.

Bognot added that attractions including the Fontana’s Water Theme Park, Dinosaur Island, Zoobic Safari, and Zoocobia Fun Zoo will add to Clark’s appeal to families.

This article was first published in TTG Asia, January 8, 2016 issue, on page 18. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

The Bicol Region is poised to become an ecotourism hub with its abundance of natural attractions and outdoor activites, but care must be taken to ensure its sustainable development

Not yet a prime tourist destination, the undeveloped Bicol Region in south-eastern Luzon is still considered to be malleable and relatively easy to develop an ecotourism blueprint, compared with mature destinations with similar aspirations.

While there’s no denying that Bicol has what it takes to become an ecotourism hub, will it be able to sustain it in the long term? Bicol’s local governments appear keen to play the cards right in the province’s ecotourism development.

Joey Salceda, governor of Albay province – the gateway to Bicol – has been emphasising ecotourism by reducing the province’s carbon footprint and increasing its forest cover by 88 per cent to 45,000ha. He said: “Tourism forces us to become green as it’s what tourists come here for.”

Salceda said the present Legazpi airport will be converted into a tourism hub that is similar to Sentosa in Singapore. However, development will be limited to three or four storeys so as not to obstruct the view of the iconic Mayon Volcano.

He added that Albay tourism is entering the investment-led phase of growth, and is actively courting investors to place their money in resorts and ease the room shortage.

Department of Tourism Bicol has outlined long-term ecotourism goals in anticipation of higher visitor arrivals to the region with developments such as the opening of the new Bicol International Airport in Daraga, Albay in 2018, according to director Maria Ravanilla.

There are also concrete plans to develop more ecotourism products based on the region’s vast wealth of natural sites and attractions, she added.

Aside from sprucing up Albay, the province has joined hands with the neighbouring provinces of Masbate and Sorsogon to form the AlMaSor tourism alliance. A similar alliance with three other provinces – Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Catanduanes – is already in place, Ravanilla said.

Speaking during the PATA New Frontiers Forum held in Albay in November, PATA CEO Mario Hardy lauded Albay’s ecotourism goals: “There are not many destinations anymore that you see are green…an indication that you have something unique here.”

Donsol, in the province of Sorsogon, is home to a sustainable community-based whaleshark encounter programme, which has been so successful in elevating local livelihoods that the previously fourth class municipality is now third class and on its way to becoming first class.

AA Yaptinchay, a marine wildlife expert and also the general manager of Kirschner Travel Manila, is widely credited as the person who developed Donsol’s community-based whaleshark encounter. He emphasised that marine wildlife should be protected, not exploited; tourists should also be educated, and not just entertained.

“We see lots of misguided and misused ecotourism. (Most people) think that anything with beach or sea is ecotourism, but ecotourism should have an educational aspect to it. It’s about helping the community and enhancing the natural sites,” Yaptinchay said.

One of Albay’s main attractions is the ATV rides on the slopes of Mayon Volcano. While this may seem a harmless activity not uncommon in other countries too, several delegates at the PATA New Frontiers Forum remarked that it is not ecotourism and that the social and environmental impacts of the ATVs should be considered.

JP Cabalza, managing director of Cencorp Travel and Tours, said that “protection (of tourist attractions) should be given priority to assure a balanced growth and development of the Bicol Region”.

Apart from Mayon Volcano in Albay and whalesharks in Donsol, Cabalza urged protection of other important ecotourism sites in Sorsogon like Caramoan National Park, Basot and Quinalaang Islands, Tanglar Point, Libmanan Caves, Mount Isarog Natural Park, Malabungot Protected Area, Lagonoy Natural Park in Camarines Sur, and Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte.

This article was first published in TTG Asia, January 8, 2016 issue, on page 11. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.