Manila standard today, 30 Oct 2006
MAMBAJAO, Camiguin—Investments in this province’s tourism industry is expected to get a big boost once the national government fulfills its plan to expand the airport here, Gov. Pedro Romualdo said over the weekend.
While the industry is already doing well in terms of domestic tourism, Romualdo said they also want to entice foreign visitors and investors to the island but this island-province’s accessibility to Metro Manila is the major factor why tourists opt to go to nearer destinations, like Boracay Island, Batangas, Palawan, Bohol and Cebu, among others.
“That’s because tourists want direct flights,” he told Standard Today in an interview, adding that the Camiguin Airport only has a 1.50-km runway which cannot accommodate commercial airplanes, like those of the Philippine Airlines.
He said tourists coming from Metro Manila area and other nearby provinces have to take a ferry boat ride from Balingoan in Cagayan de Oro City, which could last for four hours before reaching Camiguin Island.
Romualdo related that when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited the island last Oct. 19, she promised to help it expand to 2-km airstrip so it could accommodate bigger planes.
“We can reclaim land or go inward for the additional runway,” said the governor, who served as congressman of the island-province from 1987 to 1998. “We are working hard to develop and promote Camiguin Island as the best destination for tourists.”
He said Camiguin’s selling point is that the island-province practically has everything, waterfalls, hot springs, mountains and white sand beaches, among others.
