KILLING THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGG
by Donald Sevilla
Now that the cat is out of the bag, many were proven right all along. The Virgin Island incident was just the tip of the iceberg and a microcosm of a bigger problem hounding us.
While we pride ourselves in being a topnotch tourist destination we are doing things that antagonize and discourage visitors from coming to our island province.But as it is with the prices of goods and tourist services exorbitant can we call Bohol an island paradise?
The complaints vary from the entrance and environmental fees imposed to the rentals of motorized bancas and other ancillary services. While we understand everyone has to make a living we have to protect the goose that lays the golden egg to make the industry sustainable.
While tourism is not an all-encompassing business in terms of economic benefit to the ordinary citizens who are at the lowest rung of the ladder, it is the big guys who are most often financially rewarded in an industry that is found discriminatory to locals.
This is the sad and bitter reality that can happen when regulation and discipline fail. Truth to tell if the pricing of food happened at an exclusive resort rather than in a public venue such as the Virgin Island sandbar, it would not have created such uproar.
This is a typical example of the double standard we impose upon ourselves. But whether it be in a 5-star resort or the average roadside eatery, expensive is expensive. Regardless of ambiance or other frills and amenities we can always tell what is reasonable and fair.
The issue on the seafood overpricing has made people aware of other tourism related problems facing us in the present. This just shows that we must not be greatly reliant on a volatile and fragile industry for our economy.
Yet tourism is good for us but we must not be totally dependent on it. We must develop other sources of revenue for our economy that are firnly grounded.
With pandemic protocols gradually relaxing and travel opportunities opening, we must be well prepared. To see ourselves for the long haul we must harmonize our policies and actions.
Regulating the industry should not just be focused on the small guys and average Joes but should be directed also towards the big players who are making a killing to the prejudice of locals who can hardly enjoy freely the beaches of their youth.
Corporate social responsibility and local camaraderie must be practiced making every Boholano feel as a stakeholder in order to protect our province’s crown jewels. Let not the Boholano feel like a tourist in his homeland!