Bohol town earns P1M a month from adventure tourism park

By Nancy R. Cudis

THERE is huge revenue potential in eco-tourism projects.

The newly inaugurated Danao Adventure Park in Danao, Bohol is proof of this. The park earns about P1 million a month since January 2009 when it started operating a zip line facility.

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The Danao Adventure Park had an annual revenue target of P3 million.

“We have not earned and seen this much money before,” Danao, Bohol Mayor Louis Thomas Gonzaga told reporters during the park’s launch last July 9.

The P25-million Danao Adventure Park—a 60-hectare eco-tourism, adventure and education facility—is co-managed by the Municipality of Danao and several people’s organizations.

Danao, Bohol is a fourth class municipality with about 20,000 residents. It is located 72 kilometers from Tagbilaran City and 35 kilometers from Tubigon, Bohol.

The local government applied for loan from the World Bank in 2006 to develop the park. The town received a soft loan amounting to more P15 million, which was used to finance the park’s development.

The facility soft-opened in the middle of 2007, offering eco-tourism activities, such as root climbing and spelunking.

When the Office of the President donated P1 million for the establishment of a zip line facility that the park termed as “suislide,” the park’s revenues went up. For the zip
line alone, the park earned P300,000 on the first month and P1 million every month in the next four months.

The facility’s cable equipment was supplied by Minda-nao-based Asolo Cable and Wires.

Danao Adventure Park offers 15 activities, including organic farm visitation, historical tour, river kayaking, river trekking, wall climbing, river tubing, village tour, bouldering, rappelling, sky ride, camping and caving.

Most of the visitors, Gonzaga noted, are locals—mostly from Cebu.

“We want to continue targeting the domestic market because it is more reliable than the foreign market, which is vulnerable to several (incidents) like the influenza A(H1N1) virus,” he said. The park, however, received foreign tourists from Cebu.

As the park plans to come up with four new activities every year and intensify its marketing promotions, it is eyeing to be declared as an economic zone.

The park generates employment for the sedate town. It employs 60 people.

Gonzaga said the park adopts the “Danao First” policy, which means its staff and supplies come from the town to support the local economy.

Future attractions in the park include eco-lodge project, a campsite, a 1.5 kilometer zip line, and a sanctuary for Dagohoy, the legendary Boholano who led the longest revolt against the Spaniards.

The Danao Adventure Park received P600,000 from Bohol Vice Gov. Julius Herrera for the development of the eco-lodge. Rep. Edgar Chatto (Bohol, 1st district) also promised P1 million for the Dagohoy sanctuary