Paradoxical paradise

MANILA, Philippines - Because they don't grow cacao....Switzerland and Belgium make the best chocolates.

Because it has scant natural resources... Japan is the third largest economy.

Because it is just a city state...Singapore has one of the best international airlines.

Because we have 7,107 Pearls of the Orient Seas... Philippines keeps to only under 3 million tourists and balikbayans.

Half of them are tourists... the other half are Torres and Dela Torres.

And, BTW, to promote foreign tourists to visit...we levy travel tax on domestic travelers.

Then, we are told.... Huwag maging dayuhan sa sariling bayan.

SUPPORT PHILIPPINE TOURISM. It's the only product that China cannot make more cheaply.

DoT Secretary Alberto Lim sets marketing blitz in Hong Kong... with memories fresh of the botched hostage rescue?

When your house is on fire, it's a good time to offer fire sale.

South China Morning Post reports that DoT has a $60,000 retainer for a Hong Kong public relations firm to promote Philippine tourism...

But not a sou for the Philippine Consul General Claro Cristobal's tourism promotion efforts?

OPEN SKIES & NO VISAS. Open skies supposed to bring more tourists. Airlines will come if there is traffic. (Otherwise, they pick up our traffic bound for elsewhere).

DoT convinced DFA to waive visa fees, hoping that the $30 visa freebie would bring in droves of tourists.

We should issue visas on arrival... and earn $90 million from 3 million tourists. Otherwise, we attract only cheese-paring backpackers.

We will get the traffic if DoT and Philippine Tourism Bureau invest in infrastructure...including clean water closets.

Philippines has one of the most expensive tours... because of disjointed activities. Coordinating airlines-hotels-restaurants-tour operators may yield cheaper packages.

Nature endowed us with some of the most scenic spots. Sometimes, instead of improving on it, we should just observe the Hippocratic code: TO DO NO HARM...

Like... don't put up a permanent stall on Boracay's solitary rock.

Biarritz, a famous beach in France, has ...nothing. They purposely left on the opposite side of the boulevard a vast empty expanse...with a solitary shower in the middle of the beach.

No hawkers, let alone stalls, allowed.

All restaurants, bistros, paelleras, hotels, and pensions are on a main street one kilometer away.

Tell that to enterprising mayors in Puerto Galera and Boracay who lease out beachfront resorts.

Our law provides that no installation may be set up 40 meters from the shoreline...but they reckon it from low tide.

DIPLOMATIC TOURISM. To improve French travel advisory on the Philippines... I only needed to submit to Quai d'Orsay where then French Ambassador Gerard Chesnel has been traipsing about all over the country. Feedback: jaz_aide@yahoo.com