How to Improve Dumaguete as a Tourist Destination?

What would you do to improve Dumaguete as a tourist destination? Please try to limit the usual sarcastic remarks. I have been asked by one of the Liberal Party members to provide opinions on this subject and I, for one, would like to see improvements in this area (among others). I would really like to hear your opinions. One of their Party Platforms is the need to improve tourism and try to turn Dumaguete into a tourism hub. You must keep in mind that there will always be limited funds and there will always be resistance from opposing forces.

There are simple things like:

- A dedicated website with the "how to get there and away / how to get around / what to see and do/ where to eat and sleep info", links to tourist related sites, a comprehensive Calendar of Events, map, etc.
- Improving the Dumaguete Tourist Office by educating the employees about tourists' needs, providing tourist maps with locations of attractions, sports venues, activities, transportation terminals, police, medical, immigration, etc., helping arrange accommodations, tours, etc.
- Raising awareness of local activities, attractions, venues.
- Creating a tourist association to amass the opinions of those with the most corporate knowledge or holding "town hall" meetings on tourism
- Working closely with the Provincial tourism Office and offices from the other towns and cities in Negros in order to make Dumaguete the "Hub".
- Opening the Sidlakan Site permanently to showcase crafts, products, and touristic interests throughout the province, including weekly entertainment from all these towns on a weekly basis.
- Clean up the eateries outside the market and provide food cooking service as they do with the fish market in Boracay, charging XX / per hundred grams and supplying side dishes and drinks. They would have to clean the market itself, as well!

Some of the more involved ideas might be:

- Keeping the harbor and local beaches clean!
- Improving ferry service with accurate schedules and creating a RORO route to Bohol
- Meeting with the airlines to try to get additional flights to places like Clark, Boracay (Kalibo or Caticlan), and Davao.
- Building a marina. That sounds impossible, but there is a fisherman's pier in Canday-ong that could be extended as a seawall; working with private industry to start a marina. The only place for pleasure craft now is Tambobo bay but it is far and they have limited services. A marina could provide fuel, electricity, water, sewage disposal, repairs, etc along with secure moorings, inviting sailing visitors as well as creating opportunities for the area's resorts that could bring their dive boats to the city for an evening on the town; and if it worked well, there would be many other opportunities to expand on the idea; like touring, ferry service to Apo Island, fish market with restaurant to cook your food, extending the Boulevard, renting kayaks, small sailboats, jet skis.
- Get the trucks and busses off the Boulevard (finish the bypass road)

Obviously, this is only the tip of the iceberg and maybe none of these ideas will ever come to be, but, any ideas that you give me, I will forward to the candidates and who knows what will happen!!! The Liberal Party candidates running locally for Mayor and Vice Mayor (Alan Cordova and Joe Kenneth Arbas) as well as the candidate for Governor (Josy Sy Limkaichong) are all young, well educated, and intelligent with good track records. If I could vote, I would certainly give them a chance.

 

Spot on. Tourism is a business. Good tourism is a repeat business. Treat the customer right the first time and they will return.
There is very little in Dumaguete to attract any tourist, the city is just an access point for other locations on the island. So here's my input.

1. First impressions count. Dumaguete Airport. Get rid of the trike mafia at the airport. The constant hassle that greets any newcomer is nothing short of a gigantic con. Cases of 700 peso from the airport to Boloc Boloc are common for any unsuspecting new arrival who has never been here before. Post the prices and let the customer decide in peace.
2. Dumaguete sea port. Have a very serious crackdown on the port mafia, who seem to be untouchable. The strong arm tactics that they use, to any new arrival, means that the bad taste of rip-off stays with them and they do not want to return.
3. Have some joined up thinking between departments, although this applies to all the Philippines and not just Dumaguete. For every move that the Tourism Board make to improve things, the Immigration Department counteract it. Last year, they announced that a 30 day visa would be granted at the airport of arrival, instead of the 21 day visa, to bring them in line with the rest of SE Asia. But like many things here, it was shouted about but never actioned. I am probably the only guy that got one. The facility is there for anyone to extend their visa, stay longer, and therefore spend more, which after all is the prime objective of tourism. But if your stay is more than 6 months, (which many from the west can afford to do), departure is a nightmare with the Exit Clearance Certificate. 5 months and 29 days, no certificate. 6 months and 1 day, certificate needed. If other nations in the west made the same requirement of Filipinos to depart their counties, even in a family emergency, there would be uproar. The certificate, and the need for it, is a joke. You have a passport issued by your government. That in itself should be enough to depart when you want to and not be delayed, and pressure should be brought upon the head of Immigration to remove this obnoxious requirement.
4. The Boulevard should be the jewel in a somewhat tarnished crown. It should be a pleasant experience to sit outside and enjoy a meal at any of the establishments hassle free. It is not. The fume belching trucks, busses, 2-stroke trikes, and thump-thump-thump of easy rides moving at a funereal pace all make it less than pleasant. A more pro-active approach from LTO with ALL vehicles breaking laws can only improve things for everyone. There is little point in paying out public money to Traffic Management, when they are incapable of managing traffic.
5. Make the Boulevard one way traffic, and limit it to access, delivery and emergency only.
6. Get rid of every beggar and street trader on the Boulevard, who constantly harrass people who are sitting having a meal. Same seller, same product, same beggar with the obligatory sympathy child, every couple of minutes.
7. With an influx of tourists, the object is to get them to enjoy themselves and spend money. "Enjoy the shopping experience" in Dumaguete is a non-event. If you are browsing, which most of us like to do, your presence is invaded by a clerk standing next to you and just staring. If you move, they follow you. If you tell them to go away, they "don't understand". So instead of buying something, you get pissed off and leave, buying nothing. A long course of instruction in customer techniques is long overdue. If I want some help to buy a pair of trousers I will ask for it. Until I have made up my mind I want to be left in peace, and some 19 year old girl telling me that she can help me doesn't help me at all. Just the opposite. Furthermore, I flatly refuse to have MY receipt inspected and marked by a security guard on departure from any store, implying that anyone leaving probably stole the goods. Most tourists would feel insulted too.
8. Peace. Coming on vacation means that at times you want some peace. Hard to find in Dumaguete. Why on earth some places think that having loudspeakers at the entrance, blasting out anything but music at an earsplitting level that is louder than an aircraft, will bring in customers, just beggars belief. There is an obsession with volume and addiction to bass. Some sort of noise control, particularly on the dickheads who scream up the boulevard with defective mufflers needs to be employed.
9. Many tourist would want to get out and about, so would probably want to rent bikes. They would probably come from countries where rules of the road and common courtesy are adhered to within reason. They are in for a nasty shock in Dumaguete, where even Filipinos from other cities and provinces say that it is the worst driving ever. A severe crackdown on road stupidity and a change of the mindset will take a long time to achieve. In the meantime, the tourist is liable to accident, drama and trauma. Not very conducive to getting repeat business.
10. Dumaguete is choking under its' own pollution. At any time of the day, at least half of the trikes are pottering around empty, looking for business. But while they are chugging around, they are holding up traffic and belching fumes into the air. So here's a simple solution. Working on the Julian calendar, odd numbered trikes work on odd days, and even numbered on even days. They would get the same amount of business but only have to work half of the time and therefore have half of the expense. How ? Because they would get twice as much business on the days they did work as there would be only half the competition. Traffic would flow freer and the air would be cleaner. A win-win situation for everyone, and that would make it more attractive for everyone.

I've opened myself up here to be shot down, because to suggest improvement means that you find some things not right. So I'm quite prepared for the "if you don't like it go back to where you came from" ostrich mentality. But any improvement here to bring in more tourist is an improvement for everyone. My apologies if I have duplicated observations in a previous post, but if I have done, it means that they are prevalent and need addressing.

 

We could have stayed in Dumaguete, but got fed up after 5 years for the same reasons as SteveB and Broadside listed in their postings. I must say after 1 year in Bacolod with all it has to offer, I now feel like I felt when I lived in San Diego California. We are all different, but Bacolod is great for me and my Family. Bacolods Mayor Evelio Leonardia gets the job done and the city is moving fast forward. 850 taxis in Bacolod and very affordable, so no transportation problem, and some small trikes are available, but when riding in them you will feel like a sardine in a can....not for me..lol
No reason to shut down Broadside, he is just speaking his mind and opinions about Duma, but not everybody likes to hear the truth about the city they live in.

 

Why would any foreigner want to promote tourism in Dumaguete? It would only cause increase in costs, for foreigners already residing here.

 

These are some great ideas. There is no perfect place, that I have found, anyway If there was I am sure it would be out of my budget. Constructive criticism is a good thing as there is always room for improvement. Some places more than others. Number one comment I hear from first timers to Dumaguete is about the tricycles. Second, the smoke belching trucks and boats. Third, why the majority of businesses close at noon until...? Traffic and road condition, signage or lack thereof. Pretty much mimics previous posts. I post because I like where I live and would like to contribute what I can. I do not wish to slam the gate behind me.

 

I moved to Duma from Bacolod for similar reasons as a previous poster but in reverse, public toilets have not been mentioned well I hope not, the smell of urine everywhere here is soooo disgusting I walk on the roads edge even if there is a side walk provided or not, most footpaths are used as an extension of someone’s business or a motor cycle park.
Every puddle you come across must be considered as p*ss.
For a tourist to be walking along merely with their kids to be confronted by some guy with his pants half down pissing on a wall or someone’s gate or even someone’s parked car is very off-putting.
If I come here as a tourist with my young family I would defiantly never come back.

 

i'm here now for the first time. i can't navigate anywhere. there are no road signs that i am aware of. my cousins drive me around, and they don't know the name of roads... but they do know how to get places. I'm so surprised when i say a name of a place, the pedicabs can usually take me there. but they've been here... I'm just on a short holiday. it is difficult for me to figure it out myself since i don't even know the major road names or directions to get my bearings.