Summer blast!

Last week, I wrote about Holy Week which marked the beginning of summer. The scorching heat is very much felt right now despite the unexpected rain showers at night. The World Meteorological Organization said that: “Neutral conditions (neither El Niño nor La Niña) continue in the tropical Pacific. Model forecasts and expert opinion suggest that the likelihood of El Niño or La Niña conditions developing during the first half of 2013 is low and that neutral conditions are likely to be maintained through the boreal spring.” This should be good news so that we can avoid too much flooding (during the wet season) or too much drought (during the dry season). But since the Philippines is near the equator, around 10 and 15 degrees north of the Equator, expect the sun’s rays to directly hit us at its highest intensity during this time of the year.

Summer will always be hot and humid. It is the warmest season where days are longest and nights are shortest. We used to practice daylight saving time (or DST) but not anymore – I wonder why. This practice can right away save us some money. Many countries practice DST. Our country is in the midst of an energy crisis and this is the best time to implement it again. Remember time saved is money saved and energy saved.

Summer is always the best time to visit places and journey to destinations which allow us to fulfil our ‘bucket list’. But even if we want to travel and go on an adventure, the lack of financial capability remains a concern. Has our government paved the way for easy travelling? Have they looked into the myriads of complaints on our local and abusive airline industry? What about the maritime industry? Has it been properly regulated and checked by the MARINA (Maritime Industry Authority under the DOTC)? Is it safe to travel on our local buses? Are the drivers following the rules of road safety? Are passengers safe from harm? These are some challenges our country faces for travellers that are also deterrents to local or international tourists.

Statistics have shown that the new Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. has hailed a 10.5% rise in foreign tourist arrivals this year. This sets a record of 854,187 in the first two months, from 772,989 in the same period last year. It certainly looks like there are positive and quite successful moves made by the Department of Tourism.

Certainly, this DOT secretary seems to be making all the right moves to propel the country into becoming the new darling of the foreign tourism media. Contrary to the past, the international press has now come out with glorifying reports about the Philippines as a ‘prime’ tourist destination. Although much work still needs to be done, the present developments have put us back in the map.

Recently, the top tourism publications such as Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, Travel + Leisure Magazine and CNN have featured stories surprisingly favorable to us. Traveler Magazine wrote that the Philippines is one country which travelers should watch out for this year. Travel + Leisure Magazine voted Boracay as the most popular island resort for tourists while CNN GO named Cloud 9 in Siargao Island as 8th among the top 50 surfing destinations in the world. Hallelujah!

Reports have it that the secretary is now decidedly considering pushing surfing as a new tourism product for the country. He certainly cannot go wrong in this for the simple reason that surfing is now the fastest growing personal sport in the world, as it now is in the country.

Very important to note in this regard is that there are over 10 million active surfers in 56 countries in 6 continents in the world today. About 3.5 million of these are professionals who are cash-rich and time-poor and, because of the cold waters in their own, perforce have to travel to other countries to surf in warmer waters. This is one of the reasons many of them go to Bali in Indonesia, now considered the surfing capital of Asia. A large number go to Bali to learn how to surf. The miracle of surfing tourism is, as a matter of fact, best demonstrated by this small island’s contributing a third of the total tourism earnings of Indonesia.

We have surfing sites that can rival the world’s best, if we are to believe CNN GO’s appraisal. These are slowly being considered by a growing number of foreign surfers as prime destinations. Indeed, many are already coming as seen in the large numbers who surf in La Union, Baler and Zambales, among other destinations. There seems to be no reason, therefore, that we cannot also attract thousands of surfers to come and surf or learn how to since we have similarly warm waters and exciting surfing sites, not to mention the friendliest, most hospitable people in the world who speak English.

Stakeholders in the local surfing industry are in full support of Jimenez’ surfing tourism thrusts believing as he does that it is a great way to go. They are interested not only in bringing in skilled surfers but also enthusiasts who want to learn how to surf. Surfing education tourism, in fact, forms a major market potential the Philippines can exploit with great success not only because of our warm waters and among the most exciting surfing spots in the region but also because we potentially have proficient surfing instructors who only need to be accredited as internationally certified surfing coaches to attract surfing students to our shores.

Among the most enthusiastic backers of Jimenez’ surfing gambit is a group of young surfing instructors who have organized the Academy of Surfing Instructors Philippines (ASIP) as the exclusive local chapter of the Academy of Surfing Instructors (ASI), which is based in Bondi, Australia. ASI is the international agency that certifies surfing instructors and accredits surfing schools and other surfing related activities as meeting international standards globally. Surfing instructor Paolo A. Soler, the first Filipino to be ASI-Certified as a surfing coach, organized ASIP with the help of leading Filipino surfers Luke Landrigan, Lui Tortuya, Corey Wills, and Rommel Rojo.

It is efforts like this from young, dedicated Filipinos that will give our country a boost whether in tourism, sports, information technology, trade and commerce or in the arts.