TAGAYTAY CITY - Tourism Undersecretary Oscar Palabyab yesterday said that while the Department of Tourism is promoting the country as a whole, it encourages the local destinations to do their share in order to complement the national effort in tourism promotion.

"Through the years we saw the aggressiveness of Bacolod in trying to get a fair share of the conventions since it has the facilities," Palabyab said.

Bacolod has the MassKara Festival but it needs to sustain the influx of tourists outside the main festival, he said. Bacolod is a very vibrant city because it has a fair share of the night life, he added.

Palbyab said travel is so easy to Bacolod since it has a lot of potential. He said the new airport to be built in Silay will bring Bacolod closer to the rest of the world.

Bacolod has positioned itself as a Convention Center in the South but if the city will lose a convention facility, this will be like going back to square one, Palabyab said when informed that the Bacolod Convention Plaza Hotel will be leasing its Island Ballromm, which has a sitting capacity of 1,000, to a call center. He said so much effort has already been done to catch the convention market.

"We have to concentrate on what we have now and keep staying in the imagination and consciousness of everyone so we can be remembered by people in considering options to travel because tourism is very competitive," Palabyab said.

Bacolod Councilor Homer Bais yesterday said the Bacolod City government is pushing for the construction of a convention center in the city to maintain its position as the Convention City of the South.

Bais chairman of the Bacolod SP Committee on Tourism, has joined the members of the Bacolod City Hall Press Corps in their business and tourism familiarization and study tour to Cavite, Tagaytay and Manila. He said the convention center is the number one priority of Bacolod.

Bais said that during a meeting held last week by the Tourism Cultural Development Council, the group decided to scout for a private party who is willing to put up a convention center in Bacolod City.

He said Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella asked the SM group to consider putting up one. They have also approached the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association to look for a possible site in case SM declines, he added.

Meanwhile, Tagaytay Deputy Tourism Officer Eufrencia Victor said the city projects that its tourism industry will generate about P100 million this year after it took over the operation of the Tagaytay Picnic Grove from the Philippine Tourism Authority after 25 years.

Victor said Tagaytay Mayor Abraham Tolentino, after being authorized by the Tagaytay City Council, did not renew the lease contract of the PTA with Tagaytay after it expired in Dec. 22, 2005. She said PTA leased the TPG for only P2 million a year and the money goes to the national government. When the city took over last December, it already earned about P13 million, she added.

Tagaytay City has about 79 hotels, town houses and inns based on its 2005 directory aside from 78 religious houses.*CGS

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