Post by EXO on Jul 12, 2023 12:41:14 GMT 8
TEN DISCUSSION POINTS THAT NEED TO BE DISCUSSED IN PUBLIC, AND NOT BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.
1. There are six stages in the life cycle of a tourism destination.
Tourism is not a static process, it evolves and declines. Courtesy of Covid, Corregidor has stagnated. (2020 is considered by the UNWTO as the worst year in history for tourism.) Courtesy of the natural passing of the WWII generation, there is insufficient tourist traffic to fulfil its cost of maintenance. The number of foreign tourists is down. It needs to be rejuvenated – but as to what?
2. Corregidor is not a National Park. Isn’t, never was. This allows deals to be negotiated in accordance with private arrangements, and by appointees of friends of the powerful. The motive is money, not nature. Short term deals are entered into, and long term ecological policies can be ignored. The preservation of the natural environment, the purposes of public recreation and enjoyment, either because of historical or scientific interest, has become subsidiary to the profit of sectional interests. It’s not a National Park because powerful interests do not want it to be a National Park. It should be.
3. Return on Investment is not evil.
4. Corregidor’s very purpose, used to be controlled by a Presidential Decree. The Decree was never repealed. It is just ignored, as if it never was. Management presently varies by the length of the manager’s foot. Interpretations are negotiated behind closed doors.
5. The development of Corregidor for remunerative Tourism is not inconsistent with generally accepted National Park criteria. Except that, presently, it is. Ecological and sustainable tourism need to be the driving force of Corregidor’s redevelopment. In that order.
6. Corregidor should not be subject to the whims of profit-taking real estate redevelopment, except for ecological and tourism accommodation purposes. There is already a commercial zone at bottomside. If you want to build a golf course at topside, then you can build the clubhouse that used to be there. Exactly the way it was, because we know exactly what it used to look like.
7. Short term arrangements with a concessionaire prevent development, they do not enhance it. Concessionaires need long term arrangements to obtain Return of Investment. See Rule 3.
8. Tourism on Corregidor has deteriorated because of the lack of skill and educational training of its governors. Corregidor as a tourism destination has suffered because of the amateurish approach to protecting its resources. It stood by when barrels were moved to Manila for a bogus tourist geejaw. If any government or tourism department is intending to make Corregidor a serious destination again, they need to look to develop policy and expertise in the following areas:
9. An association with a strident environmental group is not necessarily a bad thing. Find someone controversial - offer Greenpeace docking facilities, maybe? Get involved with the ecology of the island, support it, don't destroy it.
10. Corregidor needs to become involved in the health of Manila Bay. It is a stakeholder. It should be involving itself in raising public awareness and participation, protecting human welfare, ecological, historical, cultural and economic features, mitigating environmental risks, implementing effective policies and environment management and governance, and developing areas and opportunities in a sustainable manner. Saying nothing, and not being controversial has got Corregidor nothing. If CFI are not making themselves heard, they are not being effective.
1. There are six stages in the life cycle of a tourism destination.
a. Exploration
b. Involvement
c. Development
d. Consolidation
e. Stagnation
f. Decline or rejuvenation
b. Involvement
c. Development
d. Consolidation
e. Stagnation
f. Decline or rejuvenation
2. Corregidor is not a National Park. Isn’t, never was. This allows deals to be negotiated in accordance with private arrangements, and by appointees of friends of the powerful. The motive is money, not nature. Short term deals are entered into, and long term ecological policies can be ignored. The preservation of the natural environment, the purposes of public recreation and enjoyment, either because of historical or scientific interest, has become subsidiary to the profit of sectional interests. It’s not a National Park because powerful interests do not want it to be a National Park. It should be.
3. Return on Investment is not evil.
4. Corregidor’s very purpose, used to be controlled by a Presidential Decree. The Decree was never repealed. It is just ignored, as if it never was. Management presently varies by the length of the manager’s foot. Interpretations are negotiated behind closed doors.
5. The development of Corregidor for remunerative Tourism is not inconsistent with generally accepted National Park criteria. Except that, presently, it is. Ecological and sustainable tourism need to be the driving force of Corregidor’s redevelopment. In that order.
6. Corregidor should not be subject to the whims of profit-taking real estate redevelopment, except for ecological and tourism accommodation purposes. There is already a commercial zone at bottomside. If you want to build a golf course at topside, then you can build the clubhouse that used to be there. Exactly the way it was, because we know exactly what it used to look like.
7. Short term arrangements with a concessionaire prevent development, they do not enhance it. Concessionaires need long term arrangements to obtain Return of Investment. See Rule 3.
8. Tourism on Corregidor has deteriorated because of the lack of skill and educational training of its governors. Corregidor as a tourism destination has suffered because of the amateurish approach to protecting its resources. It stood by when barrels were moved to Manila for a bogus tourist geejaw. If any government or tourism department is intending to make Corregidor a serious destination again, they need to look to develop policy and expertise in the following areas:
a. Tourism, National Park and recreation management
b. Environmental studies - pollution management
c. Environmental science & management
d. Wildlife and Forestry management
e. Horticulture, natural resources & biological management
f. Fisheries and wildlife management.
b. Environmental studies - pollution management
c. Environmental science & management
d. Wildlife and Forestry management
e. Horticulture, natural resources & biological management
f. Fisheries and wildlife management.
10. Corregidor needs to become involved in the health of Manila Bay. It is a stakeholder. It should be involving itself in raising public awareness and participation, protecting human welfare, ecological, historical, cultural and economic features, mitigating environmental risks, implementing effective policies and environment management and governance, and developing areas and opportunities in a sustainable manner. Saying nothing, and not being controversial has got Corregidor nothing. If CFI are not making themselves heard, they are not being effective.