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INTRODUCTION
The
attached brochure promoting Banton as an eco-cultural tourism
site should, without a doubt, convince us that indeed, it has
so much potential. What the brochure presents are merely what
we have now and we know that most of them are not yet
developed. Yet, we see that Banton can already offer what
other tourism sites offer, and probably more.
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DEVELOPMENT
OF THE SITES
There
is no doubt capital is needed to develop these sites to be at
par with major tourist sites in the country and as such
tackled in the succeeding sections.
Once a private developer steps in, there should be not
much of development concerns anymore. Knowing, however, the
difficulty of raising capital and attracting
developers/investors, only the bare essentials are herein
presented with the view that the municipal government or the
particular barangay councils would be in charge. This with the
hope that when things get going, selling business
opportunities in the island will not be that much difficult.
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CALENDAR
OF ACTIVITIES
Festivals
also attract visitors as what Ati-Atihan does in Aklan or the
Kadayawan in Davao. Sports competition bring, if not visitors,
Bantoanons home as what the Lenten Basketball Tournament has
shown us. Cultural shows and plays have their share of
patrons. Needless to say, we can add attractions by lining up
events throughout the year.
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FACILITIES
Transportation.
The completion of the Banton Port next year should remove one
of the biggest hindrances to Banton’s tourism plans.
This early, plans should be drawn so that the sea
transport system would be tourist-friendly. This is very
important because of the long travel time from Manila, the
expected takeoff point of tourists, to Banton.
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ORGANIZATION
For
the project to work, the right organization should be in
place. A
committee should be formed and maintained to plan, lead and
coordinate all these activities.
Subcommittees should be formed as follows:
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FUNDING
Funds
are of course needed.
The
Municipal Government should try to squeeze some budget in its
coffers for this project. Provincial-funded projects should,
for the next two years at least, be supportive of this
endeavor. It should also try to seek help from the national
government and the Department of Tourism for some financial
and manpower support.
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PLANNING
A
grand strategic actions plan should be drawn for this. Not all
may be doable because of lack of manpower, time and resources.
A matrix of activities according to the impact or
importance and feasibility may prove helpful:
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Should
Do |
Must
Do |
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Don’t
Do |
Nice
to Do |
The
“Should Do” activities are those activities which will
make a big impact yet very feasible. The “Must Do” are the
high impact activities but may be hard to do because of lack
of resources. “Nice To Do” are those whose impact may be
low but would only require small resources.
A
specific timetable should also be put in place.
CONCLUSION
Compared
to the old days, Banton may not be as progressive. In the
past, big industries flourished: ship-building, sea transport,
pot-making, loom weaving, farming and fishing.
Most of these industries are lost if not in the process
of being lost. Shipbuilding is gone. The Bantoanons’ flag
carrier, the Asuncion Shipping Lines, now the San Nicolas
Lines, is not able to keep pace with development and may
eventually lose out. Fishing was never developed and while the
island teems with fish, still all we have are small-time
fisherfolks or those fishing for their own consumption (panarili).
The price of copra has gone down effectively crippling the
coconut industry. Good thing, BMPCI is gaining grounds in
resurrecting the loom-weaving industry.
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