By Perla Lena/PNA
ILOILO CITY — Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival serves as the main driver of any activity in this city, benefitting not just tourism but also ancillary services.
Maria Victoria Lara, executive director of the Iloilo Business Club (IBC), said in an interview Thursday that one of the reasons why there are investments in hotels and more business establishments coming in is the Dinagyang Festival.
“The festival has translated into economic benefits. Unique at that, the festival is not just about the parade. It’s about food, arts, performances, sports. It is multi-faceted. It’s a poster event of Ilonggos,” she said.
Lara said it might be a good material to study how much the festival generates revenue for the city, but looking at the kiosks alone, in three days they could earn more or less PHP30,000.
She added that since the private sector (Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc.) began to manage the festival in 2000, about 70 percent of their patrons are still there.
“If they have not recognized the benefit of attaching their brand with our festival and how it will translate to income or revenue for them, then they would not have supported us. The fact that they are here since we started is proof enough that we have helped them with their sales,” she said.
The executive director hoped that the tourism interest will be sustained.
“It’s a good year for us. We are having another set of tourists this year starting with a cruise ship,” she said.
A Japanese cruise ship with 750 guests and crew will arrive in Iloilo City on January 26, in time for Dinagyang’s Fiesta Pilipinas Kasadyahan Regional Cultural Competition.
The IBC executive said that while business has taken off well this year, the challenge is still there as the past year was “not so much of a good year for us.”
She cited the increase in daily minimum wage and the closure of Boracay Island that affected huge volume of transactions and the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act as factors.
However, she added that middle-income earners were able to benefit from the TRAIN.
This year, she said that there is much to look forward to as there are projects that are expected to go full swing.
They are also seeing the rise of logistic hubs in the outskirts of the city, which hopefully would translate to and generate work for Ilonggos.
They also look forward to an increase in meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibits (MICE). A loose monitoring of three big venues here revealed that 60 major conventions were held in this highly-urbanized city.
“It’s something that we hope we will be able to sustain the business operations, both the old and the new,” she said.
