An Australian friend told us that he had met an American lady on the plane from Singapore to the Philippines . Being a friendly type, she struck up a conversation with him and when asked about her destination, she said, no place in particular. She wanted to see the real Philippines . The Aussie said that to see the real Philippines , go to the countryside, meet people and live among them for a time. The lady is from Florida and she is said to have a residence in one of the South American countries. This means she is somewhat of a world traveler. To prove his point the Aussie brought the American to Bohol and billeted her with his wife's relatives just to get the feel of the Philippine countryside. Although accommodation was sort of Spartan, she appreciated the hospitality.

Our friend told us that Bohol has not tapped the tourist market fully. Of course there are beautiful and interesting destinations in the province but we are catering only to a special kind of tourists. We forget the backpackers. There are three types of tourists. First are those who go on guided tours. They are vacationing employees, honeymooners and retirees whose time and money are limited. Their itineraries are fixed and schedules are tight. Although they avail of first class accommodations and buy expensive souvenirs they cannot stay long in one place. The next category is people, with time in their hands. They are either working people with time between jobs, like contractors or consultants or retirees with money. They may have their itinerary set out for them but they are able to stay a little longer in places, which they find interesting. Or pursue an alternative route to reach places of their fancy. This means, they are not herded about like the first category and can go about as they please. They spend more.

The third category is the backpackers. Although they operate on a shoestring budget, they skimp during their stay, looking for the cheapest accommodations and low cost food they are numerous and can stay for quite a while in places of their choice. Backpack tourism is a big market in Australia , our friend said. In Cebu there is the town of Moalboal . Backpackers congregate; Germans, Swiss, Scandinavians and other Europeans are vacationing here. Cottages are full particularly during Easter. Some stay for months, even years. In Bohol , there is no place, which cater to the backpackers. We have amenities for the first two types but none for the last category.

Most of the backpackers are intelligent; they are of the college level. A German businessman told us sometime ago that most European governments allocate certain amounts to people of school age so that they may go to college. Most of them choose to use their money traveling around and when their source of funds are cut off when they reach a certain age, they settle down to work. The reason behind this privilege is when war come the young ones are those who will bear arms for their country. Anyway when they are considered of working age, they get employed and pay taxes. Therefore backpackers will always be with us.