Bohol Aims For The Top

Danao Adventure Park

The province of Bohol is out to reclaim its post as the top tourist destination in the country.

This is the newfound vision of the government of Bohol, which recently launched its newest tourism campaign—dubbed as Bohol: Heart of the Islands, Truly Philippines—in partnership with Philippine Bohol Arts Foundation Institute (PABFI) and the province’s tourism stakeholders.

Aimed at immensely boosting local and foreign tourist arrivals and making the province the country’s preferred travel destination, the campaign showcases Bohol’s rich cultural and historical heritage, highlighting its rich eco-cultural value beyond the Chocolate Hills and the diminutive tarsiers, the world’s smallest primate.

"Other than the usual sites that are being promoted here—the Loboc River, the Chocolate Hills, the tarsiers, and the white sand beaches of Panglao—there is more to discover in Bohol that will make greater tourism impact, not only for the province, but also in relation to the Philippine context of promoting the country," said Bohol Governor Edgar Migriño Chatto.

The event, held at the Centennial Hall in Manila Hotel, gathered key public officials and tourism leaders, including Manila Hotel President and former senator Joey Lina, Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) President Cesar Cruz, and Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr.

Located in Central Visayas, Bohol literally sits at the heart of the Philippine archipelago. Boasting of diving sites revered as among the best worlwide, the province is home to a number of natural wonders, such as—aside from the Chocolate Hills—the biggest mangrove plantation in Asia, and the Dajanon Bank, the lone double-barrier reef in the region and one of only six such marine structures in the world.

“Bohol and its people have a certain respect and appreciation for heritage and tradition,” Chatto shared. “This is why we have come up with this campaign to highlight the captivating charm that Bohol exudes and the heartwarming hospitality offered by Boholanos themselves.”

One of the things that Bohol would like to promote and enrich through its new tourism campaign is the element of nationalistic pride. “By showing everyone how Boholanos have preserved practices and beliefs that other Filipinos have already seemed to forget, we are also able to emphasize the value of cherishing their heritage,” PBAFI Executive Ria Cauton noted. “In an age when our culture are soaked in various colonial ideas and influences, that’s really something that has become rare.”

Bohol’s colorful history can be seen all over the province—especially when one looks upon its well-preserved Hispanic structures scattered all over, like the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Dauis, which attracts thousands of devout Catholics every year, and the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon, which is touted as Asia’s best-preserved Jesuit church.

In addition, other reasons that permit the province to say, ‘You can’t say you’ve been to the Philippines and truly experienced Filipino culture without having gone to Bohol,’ are its rich and distinct culinary offerings, vibrant nightlife, thriving art scene and ancestral craft-making practices. All of these underscore the fact that, indeed, one of Bohol’s main assets are its hospitable, constantly jovial and honest people.

“You don’t have to be from Bohol to love Bohol,” revealed Secretary Jimenez. “It’s simply being part of a rich cultural experience that makes a visit to Bohol unforgettable. The Loboc Children’s Choir, for example, has become a symbolic icon of the province precisely because, as an American friend who heard them once said, ‘You cannot sing the way they do if you are not happy.
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