By Perla Lena/PNA
ILOILO CITY — Iloilo City frontliners are capable of providing necessary information for tourists who wanted to have a peek of other destinations here other than the Dinagyang fest.
This was the assurance of Junel Ann Divinagracia, City Tourism and Development Office (CTDO) head, during Wednesday’s press conference held at the Iloilo City Hall Penthouse.
The city government and the Department of Tourism (DOT) started last December their tourism awareness program where all frontliners undergo a tourism tour of all destinations in the city.
“This is to familiarize them, to educate them and to make them ready for future inquiries about our Dinagyang and future events,” she said.
During the tour, the frontliners were briefed on the significance of the destinations as well as the latest information and recent developments in the city.
The program is now poised for the third batch of the program. The third batch includes among others, senior citizens who are also willing to share information with tourists.
“I would like to believe that our frontliners are ready to entertain queries,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ma. Luisa Segovia, vice president of the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. said that “every Ilonggo is a frontliner when it comes to guests” as she suggested that even the local police should have a basic course on tourism and not only for Dinagyang”.
“The challenge among frontliners is not so much of what they learn in the course but thinking on the ground and being prudent and have a sense of discretionary common sense and logical judgment in answering questions,” Segovia said.
Apart from frontliners, the CTDO also established tourism information centers in various malls in the city.
Meantime, Divinagracia said that all hotels are now booked for the Dinagyang fest whose highlights will be on January 25-27.
Tourism Regional Director Helen Catalbas in a previous interview estimated visitors for the Dinagyang highlights at 250,000 in the minimum.
The city’s hotel capacity when maximized could be 15,000 to 20,000 tourists. Others may opt to stay in apartments, with their friends and relatives or in resorts and hotels outside of the city.
“That is a very a conservative estimate,” she said.
