BY NANCY R. CUDIS <> Saturday, March 21, 2009
Personal and professional thoughts on one of the promising industries in Cebu
Save for updating this blog with my articles that saw print in the local daily I work for, I have not been able to provide a personal entry—which I initially planned to be a weekly thing—for quite some time. A lot of things have come my way lately, a chunk of which involved procrastination. Nothing surprising about that. Oh, well. I have to admit that the rainy weather during some times this week was a tempting factor to just stay in bed until noon. Fortunately, I have enough good sense not to do that. Then there is the easy access of the Internet that amazingly makes the world flatter than a decade ago—a fast medium that unceasingly relaxes my mind with quizzes, e-mails, forwarded notes, shout-outs, online farming, online shopping, and the like. This piece, for instance, is a sample of a blog that puts a lot of (oftentimes random) thoughts about this crazy world. If I can’t sort out the world immediately (being a self-proclaimed advocate for world peace as I am), at least I can put order to my thoughts. And spread them through the same medium.
Anyway, for the past two weeks, I have been somewhat “overexposed” to covering about the local tourism sector. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that. Apart from the opportunity of getting a story to meet a daily requirement of at least two stories a day, I am challenged to find new (business) angles on an industry that attracts a lot of media attention. Some of my recent tourism-related exposures include the openings of this year’s grand Vis-Min Travel and Leisure Expo and 4th Trabaho sa Turismo as well as the inauguration of a new building in the Banilad Center for Professional Development that accepts scholars for hotel and resorts training.
Amazingly, no matter how “squeezed” tourism as a topic already is, there is always something new in each of the recent events—the last two were graced by Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano. Before anything else, I want readers to know that I am very aware of the protocol governing my profession and it is journalism ethics (as well as saving grace) to keep my opinions to myself. Just this once, allow me to share that Mr. Durano would make any big company an impressive and charming public relations, media relations, and communications director. He knows how to deal with people, including the media. During the recently concluded Trabaho sa Turismo at SM City Cebu, he was asked during the press briefing if he would run for the Senate and who he wishes to succeed his position as cabinet secretary for tourism. Despite unconfirmed rumors, all he said to the radio reporter who made the query was, “Now that you asked me that, I have something to think about.” Or something to that effect. Quite graceful, really. Then I, with as much grace as I could muster, steered the discussion back to the event at hand—the state of tourism in the country today.
So that conveniently leads us back to where we should be in this blog…how is tourism in Cebu doing now? As far as I know, from what the advocates were telling me, it is growing. Otherwise, the P3-billion Imperial Palace Waterpark and Spa developed by Philippine BXT Corp. in Lapu-Lapu City would not have opened. Otherwise, SM Investment Corp.’s hotel in the North Reclamation Area would not be preparing to be open in the middle of th year. Otherwise, real estate brokers and licensed salesmen I know of would have reported a significant decline in the sales of condominiums. Otherwise, manpower and staffing agencies would not have considered tourism as the basin to absorb production-related workers who lost their jobs to the ongoing global financial crisis that threatened a lot of export and manufacturing companies. Otherwise, airline companies like Cebu Pacific would not have increased the number of flights it service to and from Cebu.
One thing for sure is that a lot of things are going on in the tourism industry, attracting other companies to gear efforts that, in one way or another, affect the sector in a positive way.
However, pardon my pessimistic streak, I cannot help but wonder if everything is real, if the numbers the government agencies are telling the media are merely superficial—something to give the public to chew on their own—or if government and business leaders are desperate to maintain positive public sentiment afloat in order to keep the national economy in general and consumer spending in particular going.
At this point, my enthusiasm for news features comes in. I may not acknowledge myself as a journalist but I am happy being a writer. As one, I have both art and responsibility—art at seeing things and retelling them as well as responsibility that goes beyond the right leads, the rights angles, the right grammar, and the right sentence structure. As one, I have to give government figures a face for the readers to understand and, hopefully, prompt them to do something. Sounds noble, huh? Sure, but never easy. Some of the reporters I know keep forgetting that—to give a story a face. They seem to be blinded by national statistics and localizing them. No problem with that; I myself have my own share of “localizing” big news items. In fact, there came a point that I actually forgot to inject a life in every story I make and just do routine reporting. Just recently, though, I learned to somewhat “undo” the bad habit. After all, I belong to a community, not a national, paper.
Admittedly, I am no expert. I have only been in the print media officially for two years and a month. Before that, I was a production assistant for a cable TV for a year. For veterans, I bet, that’s amateur experience. Nothing I could boast of, even to colleagues and old-school professors who have had hardcore journalism experience during their prime years. But then again, I am a person, sharing common rights and principles with others. I am aware of the importance of life, education, and work. I am also aware of media’s important role in the crisis today that is, in one way or another, affecting the tourism industry.
According to Mr. Durano, the tourism industry—like export—has been dependent on big markets like the US and Japan. Only several years ago when the government started to turn attention to other countries like Russia, Middle East, China, and India. Mr. Durano called it diversified marketing strategy, now reinforced strongly by the global economic slowdown. I call it playing smart. But on second thought, so what if the government are now focused on getting travelers from other countries into the Philippines? The way I see it, they have to get as many people traveling as possible—be it for sports, leisure, or business. Tourists’ presence here primarily means spending. And spending is good for the economy. And when spending translates into high demand, investors are lured into the basin and start planting hotels, resorts, and other tourism-related services. These facilities mean job opportunities for my fellow citizen, Heart Pacana, a graduating hotel and services trainee. And a good job means a better future for her parents and four siblings.
Naturally, media has the role to inform people of these opportunities. Earlier, Australian Ambassador Mr. Rod Smith beautifully described tourism industry as “community work.” Media, being part of the community, is no exception in this work. But I, being member of the media, just hope that we will not overlook the downside that could possibly come with Cebu’s booming tourism industry and to help the government regulate systems to protect our people.
A few weeks back, I answered a message sent to me through Facebook by Kevin Lagunda for “Ang Suga” magazine of the Cebu Normal University. One of his three questions was, “Is it enough for a journalist to report about the crisis?” Ideal as I am, I made an ideal answer, “It’s never enough. One story alone has a lot of follow-ups to do the following day. A journalist has to get to get into the “bottom” of a story without getting “drowned” by unpleasant experiences or personal emotions and provide readers or listeners their money’s and time’s worth with an in-depth, concise, and unbiased story. The crisis has direct and indirect yet far-reaching effects. As a business writer belonging to a community paper, I have to put into the limelight how the crisis could affect, say, a barbecue vendor at Larsian or a flower shop owner along Pelaez St. and continue to hope that my stories will prompt public and private stakeholders to do something for them.”
The reality, though, is deeper and more serious than that.
Filed under: Personal Thoughts/Experience , cebu, media, tourism
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