Commercial flights to Guiuan expected

 By Vicente Labro
Inquirer Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY – The opening of an airport in historic Guiuan town in Eastern Samar, to commercial flights and the completion of other infrastructure projects will attract more tourists and investors on Calicoan Island, officials said.

Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan said commercial flights would start next month after the completion of the P155-million Guiuan Airport Development Project.

In an interview on Sunday, Kwan said that she had talked with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air officials about her request for flights to and from Guiuan.

Cebu Pacific promised to start flights in November, she said, while the PAL manager in Tacloban had “endorsed favorably” the plan to the airline’s head offices in Manila.

The project included a new apron and taxiway, a passenger terminal building, a fire department building and perimeter fence, as well as the installation of a single-phase electrical line and asphalt overlay of the runway, Kwan said.

The mayor also disclosed that the P38-million water system project in Calicoan Island had already been completed. “In the past, many investors in Calicoan had backed out because of lack of potable water,” she said.

Potable water will be supplied to seven of the town’s villages, including four in Calicoan – Pagnamitan, Baras, Ngolos, and Sulangan.

Kwan said two major telecommunication companies had also put up towers in Calicoan, allowing people to use their cellular phones.

Guiuan has a big tourism potential because of its natural wonders and rich heritage, said Presidential Assistant for Eastern Visayas Cynthia Nierras, who was in Guiuan to attend the inauguration of the town’s Tourism Information and Pasalubong Center on Saturday.

Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing under the flag of Spain, first set foot on Philippine soil in Homonhon Island, which is a part of Guiuan, on March 16, 1521.

Cebu is Asia’s 4th best islands for 2009

Travel + Leisure magazine ranked Cebu as the fourth best, among Asian island destinations in World’s Best Awards 2009, a listing of the best hotels, airlines, cruises in islands and cities all over the world.

No other Philippine city, island, resort, hotel, or airline made it to the listing in other categories.

The awards are based on the American magazine’s 14th Readers’ Poll survey conducted from mid-January to the end of March this year.

“An unprecedented number of new names and places made their debuts on this year’s list, sometimes unseating longtime favorites,” says Travel + Leisure editor in chief Nancy Novogrod.

Cebu got a rating of 79.68 points, ranked behind Bali (87.41), Maldives (84.43), and Phuket (80.93).

Respondents were asked to rate the islands based on natural attractions, activities and sights, restaurant and food, people and value.

They had to rate a candidate on a scale of 1 to 5 where “1” means poor and “5” means excellent.

In the Condé Nast Traveler annual Readers’ Choice Survey, Cebu occupied the seventh spot in the best island destination in Asia/Indian Ocean three times: in 2008 at 70.9, which is two points short of 2007’s 72.3 points and 2004’s 72.8 points.

Twice, it has been ranked 8th best island destination: in 2006 with 71.0 points and in 2005 with 69.5 in the same magazine survey.

Both Travel + Leisure Magazine and Condé Nast Traveler are American publications based in New York.