Ananyana, Dumaluan row up for mediation

Cooler heads tried last week to ease the tension gripping the management of The Ananyana Beach Resort and the municipal government led by Mayor Doloriech Dumaluan. With the intervention of tourism stakeholders like PTA General Manager James Dean Barbers, Gov. Erico Aumentado and Cong. Edgar Chatto, chair of the House Committee on tourism, the animosity between the two parties was somewhat diffused. As soon as the conflict broke into the open, both parties were ready to engage in a protracted court battle with the Ananyana management already preparing to hire topnotch lawyers in order to depend its interest in operating the resort in the Doljo Beach area. The bone of contention of their dispute was the enforcement of a municipal ordinance by Mayor Dumaluan prohibiting the use of Marine Protected Areas for bathing of tourists. Incidentally, the waters fronting the beach resort have been enclosed with buoys by the municipal government as part of the Marine Protected Areas of the Bohol Marine Triangle (BMT) project. This water enclosure, which spans the entire beachfront of Ananyana is being monitored by barangay officials and a volunteer fishermen's group in the area, prohibits pumpboats to pass by and even swimming activity. According to Emma Gomez, co-owner of the resort, the waters fronting her resort was not originally included in the protected zone as recommended by BMT. The enclosure was only established by the municipal government, she said.

MEDIATION

Just as the conflict was threatening to escalate into a full blown confrontation when cooler heads came into the picture. Through the representation of Gov. Aumentado and Cong Chatto, Barbers volunteered to mediate the two warring parties. The venue of the mediation proceedings is the Panglao Nature Resort in Bingag Dauis and it will be this morning. Barbers arrived in Panglao yesterday. Another dialogue is scheduled tomorrow, this time., the participants are representatives from barangay Doljo, Provincial Tourism Office, and the Bohol Environment Management Office. Kagawad Dennis Hora was also invited to attend the meeting.

THE ANANYANA

Unknown to many with the establishment of The Ananyana in Panglao, Bohol tourism promotion literally took a free ride, a reason why foreign travelers have come and gone even with the measly capital industry players have spent on promotions. And for the past 12 years, a computer genius who knows information technology like the back of his hand has been cultivating a now-not-so-secret portal so international travelers can peep through Panglao, Bohol or the Philippines. Patrick Ritter and Emma Gomez of the Ananyana fame has been promoting their resort internationally for the past 12 years, well before Panglao and Bohol tourism became a pestering pop-up on one's internet screens. “It is my very strong personal dedication to the Philippines and the continuous increase of investment that urged me to do this.” Ritter admitted to the Post. “I have been doing business and promoting the Philippine tourism industry since 12 years, and now that is the same reason why I am based in Europe ,” he said in an email to Post. Since then, he has been actively attending all major international tourism fairs, conducting road shows, giving presentations, visiting big tour operators gatherings to convince them by selling the Philippines . Moreover, the Ananyana owner has paid attention to international media to invite them to visit the Ananyana, Bohol , Panglao and the Philippines. Also, he has been talking to international investors, showing the way to invest in the Philippines with the help of concerned government agencies.

Through his efforts, internationally accepted airport code TAG came on the international GDS (global distribution system). This also signals the accessibility of Bohol as destination to searchers hooked to the Sabre, Gallileo, Pegasus, Worldres, Worldspan, Webres systems. Through the TAG code, tourists connected to some 650,000 travel agencies access data on tourist destinations globally. The same effort has made Ananyana a pioneer and so far the only hotel, resort in Bohol and in Panglao Island to be found on portals like expedia, travelocity, orbitz. Ananyana has also pioneered as so far the only hotel and resort on Bohol and Panglao Island with real time online booking engine, a tool only available to multinational chains to the likes of Marriott and Hilton. With these developments, hotels and resorts here can now simply hook up with the code TAG and they could sell their sites to tourists. With the technology now open, any hotel interested may contact patrick@ananyana.com At present, Ritter said he is also working on a GDS portal for Bohol and Panglao and its demo version features Dumaluan Resort. Now, for any hotel interested to hook into the system, go to the address so he can share the information for the benefit of Bohol and Panglao. Any inquiries, call Ritter at +34 618341933

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