Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. Friday gave resounding reviews to Bohol’s tourism promotion efforts while at the same time was visibly impressed of its extremely successful growth started and sustained not by physical capability but also by strength of will and clarity of vision. That Bohol has embarked as one of the steepest upward trajectories in tourism in a very long time, Jimenez attributed to love of province, the enthusiastic support of the people, private sector willingness to invest in this enthusiasm, and local governance which he says is a side dish to the province’s tourism greatness. The secretary at the same time commended the leadership of Gov. Edgar Chatto whose influence helped in crafting a shared vision, coming up with a comprehensive realistic plan and having the will to execute it, alongside commitment and passion to sustainability.

Jimenez whose appointment finalized just a week before, was in the province for the first time as Tourism chief, to keynote the 21 st Visayas Area Business Conference organized by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The genius behind the compelling and infectious tourism slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” which localized variations have been plentiful is, however, not new to Bohol as he spent a good portion of his childhood here while his father worked with former President Carlos P. Garcia. He also revealed his grandfather served as Provincial Treasurer in the pre-war times. The Visayas business area’s best advantage is tourism as opportunities abound for the business sector in the industry which brought 3.9M foreign tourists and 29.5M domestic tourists in 2011, he said. The tourism industry is the only industry which allows formal and informal investment opportunity, he added.

Jimenez also expressed Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s support for success, recalling SONA statement to fast track infrastructure, of which Central Visayas ranks first in importance. He further enumerated national government support as in the creation of the Panglao gateway, the ongoing improvements at the Tagbilaran Airport, and the possibility of its expansion through a knockdown airport concept while waiting for the completion of the New Bohol Airport in Panglao in 2016. In a stakeholders’ forum, Provincial Government revealed keenness on discussing increasing partnerships with the DOT on activities in marketing, product development and connectivity in order to keep abreast with international tourism standards. Earlier, Sec. Jimenez also discussed local and national issues with the Bohol Tri-media during the press conference. Chatto, who authored the Tourism Act of 2009, leads in efforts to position pillars of tourism, themes for tours, collaboration for product and services development, among others through a unified marketing brand, which is dubbed One Bohol campaign. Just this week, Bohol and its capital city, Tagbilaran headlines national papers, having been named top 12 in the most searched destinations around the world by tourists mostly coming from the United Kingdom and China, according to leading global travel search site Skyscanner. (Leah/EDCOM)