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A vacation spent with my kids in Jakarta last week showed me how far
behind other Southeast Asian nations the Philippines has lagged in
terms of what it offers the visiting tourist. There but a few days,
we were already thoroughly impressed by what Indonesia offered.
The first day we spent within Jakarta itself in
a carnival which puts our own Enchanted Kingdom to shame. For $5, we
were surfeited with exhilarating and yes, educational, rides. The
roller coaster was a thrill; my eyes were closed during the entire
ride.
The canoe ride, a mini-roller coaster, was
thrilling and exciting in its own right, although it got us wet.
Another canoe ride, through underground caves, constituted a
worldwide, educational tour, complete with miniature puppets and
dolls depicting various wonders, natural and cultural.
My kids were unable, however, to sample the most
breath-taking ride, the Tornado. After experiencing the
Galleon—which rocked and swayed them back and forth in seemingly
monotonous, but actually exhilarating, fashion—they no longer had
the stomach for another vomit-inducer. The Tornado rotated its
passengers in an upside-down position more than a hundred feet high.
We were there only the afternoon. The evening
was reserved for the adjacent Sea World, which, sadly, was closed
that night. So was the cable car, known as the Gondola, which
transported revelers. We contented ourselves instead with the Police
Academy Stunt Man Exhibition, which amply amused.
The next day provided occasion for greater
delights. For $60, we enjoyed a day tour, consisting of safari and
botanical garden, complete with heavy lunch on a picturesque,
mountain-view restaurant.
The safari alone was worth it. No zoo in Manila
or its environs is comparable. Ecologists would have no cause to
complain about the animals’ living conditions which approached
their own habitat.
Safely ensconced in our vehicle, we fed the
various curious, hungry, and potentially dangerous animals with
bananas. The animals weren’t shy and would crowd the vehicle’s
window, expecting to be fed and petted.
The dangerous lions and tigers did not stray
towards the vehicles. They were kept in gardens behind electric
fences, content merely to be photographed, unfed. At the end of the
ride, my kids had their pictures taken with baby tigers and lions,
elephants, komodo dragons, penguins, pelicans, etc.
The next day involved another cool, stimulating
day tour for $50, in another mountain retreat. We looked down a
volcano crater, although we did not dare venture to sample its
steaming waters below. That had to await the hot springs, a
half-hour ride hence.
There I bathed under an artificial waterfall,
whose medicinal springs were 40 degrees Centigrade. Its medicinal
quality remained untested, as I did not have a skin disease which
required healing. Some of my friends and relatives would certainly
have welcomed the treatment.
The lunch was rich too, although the restaurant
was far from picturesque. We visited a flower garden earlier and
purchased raspberries and blueberries, fruits rare in the tropics.
As families in Metro Manila experience another
long week-end in enforced ecotourism holidays, they can only gripe
at what Metro Manila’s environs offer.
Baguio, six hours away, provides but escape from
the heat; while Subic, nearer by half, is frightfully expensive.
Tagaytay and Los Baños, an hour by car, has little to offer. Then,
there are the beaches with their polluted waters. We simply have too
few developed sites which qualify as memorable destination
experiences.
Perhaps we should re-think our tourism policies.
Several articles back, I criticized the Department’s materialistic
approach. It was only too eager to profit from selling items outside
man’s commerce, such as body parts or women’s bodies.
Indonesia has not stooped so low. I have just
written about Jakarta. I have not even mentioned its unmitigated
success, Bali, which combines nature and culture in pleasantly
profitable ways. Bali offers not just an experience, but an entire
life-style, which values nature and culture.
Thailand, not far behind, also prides itself in
its rich culture. Philippine tourism would do well to emulate them.
Just recently, our own Tourism secretary boasted
that the Philippines brings in three million tourists yearly,
one-half of them albeit balikbayans. Actually, he has much to be
embarrassed about.
Compare Philippine figures with those of
Thailand, which grossed thirteen million tourists in 2005, its own
airport servicing 45 million passengers annually. Tourism alone
accounts for almost 15 percent of the Thai GNP.
The failure of Philippine tourism is ultimately
due to misdirection and lack of imagination. It caters to the
surfing backpacker willing to venture wherever a rough wave exists.
Tourism must redirect its attention to the cultured traveler, who
would not deem a vacation worth it, were he unable to identify the
peculiarities of the foreign country visited.
The Tourism secretary, thus, would do well to
heed the words of a predecessor, who, not long ago, preached the
value and importance of culture, art and nature: “What meaning can
we find in all the sophisticated and increasingly alike monuments of
glass and stone in which we house our visitors? Why move planeloads
and busloads of people from one destination to another when they are
not afforded the opportunity to encounter lifestyles, traditions and
cultures different from their own and in so doing enrich their own
lives?”
eqfernando@hotmail.com
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