Southern Leyte plays tourism card

By Cris Evert B. Lato
Inquirer Visayas

 1share16 12

CABLES for the 1.5-kilometer zipline passes over the Agas-Agas Bridge, the tallest bridge in Southern Leyte at 100 meters tall. JANI ARNAIZ

TACLOBAN CITY—By 2013, Southern Leyte will become the “playground” of Eastern Visayas.

The fearless forecast was made by the Southern Leyte Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SLCCI) as it began to follow a tourism road map that highlights five proposed tourism hubs across the province.

“We are positioning Southern Leyte as the Bohol of Eastern Visayas, where our remoteness is our competitive advantage,” says Robert Castañares, chamber president.

While the SLCCI is only eight months old, Castañares said its members saw the need to make tourism the main economic driver of Southern Leyte due to its natural attractions.

In his presentation before members of eight other chambers in Eastern Visayas last month, Castañares said the private sector, under the leadership of the SLCCI, would spearhead the establishment of the five tourism hubs.

Tourism target

The hubs will be located in Silago, Maasin, Sogod (Agas-Agas), San Francisco (Napantau) and Limasawa Island.

This initiative has been headlined by the launching of the Agas-Agas zipline in Sogod town earlier this year, which is now gaining attention from local and foreign tourists.

Castañares says the target is to attract at least 200,000 tourists yearly, starting 2013.

Based on the chamber’s initial studies, he says that if each of the 200,000 tourists spends P2,000 a day, tourism income may reach P400 million.

A vibrant tourism industry can provide alternative employment to Southern Leyte, which now has a population of 400,000 or 10 percent of the four million people in Eastern Visayas.

He says 80 percent of the people in the province are government employees. They can no longer rely on the coconut industry in the province since it is already at its saturation point, he adds.

About 95 percent of the businesses are microenterprises, with capitalization lower than P3 million. Of the number, 50 percent are sari-sari stores and market vendors.

“Tourism is our development strategy. It is easy to start because the natural attractions are already there. This is going to be a private sector-led initiative,” Castañares says.

No duplication

THE NAPANTAU Dive Resort in San Francisco town on Panaon Island, Southern Leyte, is a favorite destination of divers. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

He says the private sector would work on improving tourists’ accommodation, as well as the marketing and promotion of tourist attractions. It would ask the local government units to improve the roads and provide basic services such as clean comfort rooms.

The tourism hubs will be completed by 2013 although 60 to 70 percent of the facilities will be in place by the end of this year.

Domestic tourists from the region are the target market for the next two years as hotels and resorts are not yet ready to handle the influx of foreign tourists and those from the neighboring regions.

Each hub would be distinct and unique, Castañares says.

Silago town, which is one and a half hours by car from Tacloban City, will feature a canopy walk under its virgin forest cover. The trees are as high as 50 feet.

With the recent completion of the Silago-Abuyog road that cuts travel time from Tacloban, Castañares says access would no longer be a major issue.

An animal theme park will be built in Maasin and is envisioned to carry the name “Zoo Leyte.”

“This is a manmade attraction because we cannot make the Warays (from neighboring towns and cities) to visit us, knowing that your beaches, caves and waterfalls are better than ours,” says Castañares.

In Sogod, a 1.5-km zipline is already operating. It is 377 feet high (from the base of Agas-Agas Bridge).

Castañares says other extreme sport facilities would be made available to form another hub—the Agas-Agas Adventure Park. These include cable cars, all-terrain vehicle and a facility for bungee jumping from the bridge.

Pavilion

The entire park will have a pavilion that will house a high-end coffee shop and restaurant. Castañares, however, cites the need for reliable suppliers of seafood and other food items for the restaurant.

Napantau Dive Resort in San Francisco town on Panaon Island is near Padre Burgos town, which has 30 major dive sites.

The fifth hub is the island-municipality of Limasawa, which is written in history books as the site of the first Christian Mass on March 31, 1521. It will serve as the historical-cultural landmark.

Crafting the tourism road map is a way of showing the world that there is more to Southern Leyte than the tragic stories brought by landslides and typhoons.

“We are positioning the province as a place for rest and relaxation where attractions are unique, the rooms are clean and customer service is excellent,” Castañares says.