MANILA, Philippines — Christmas 2011 was a special time for my family. One sibling flew in from Vancouver and another from Boston to spend the holidays with the three of us boys based here in Manila. Coming along for the visit was my niece who arrived with her Canadian boyfriend, Dylan, a white bloke from Calgary who’d never been to the Philippines. Family reunions, excursions, day trips and parties filled our schedule throughout the two-week Christmas season. It was a blast!

Playing tour guide to visiting relatives is a role we Pinoys left in the motherland have come to accept as our “unofficial duty.” My wife often jokes about how I take the role too seriously. Its almost comical, she says, how I obsessively plan itineraries, making sure that each and every thing we do presents the country in its best light. Years of indoctrination from the DoT urging us to “sell” the country have paid off—they have turned me into a walking salesman for the Philippines! My wife and I share good laughs about how I talk like a brochure or how I blurt out historical facts from out of the blue in relation to where we were at the moment. Heck, I figured if my efforts will result in more tourists coming in, it would all be worth it. Besides, it’s a small way I could serve the country and I am happy to oblige.

For the family’s visit last month, we took them around the new sights of Manila to shop, dine and chill. The Fort, Greenbelt, Rockwell and Shangri-La Mall were favorites. We also took them on a weekend holiday in Boracay and another weekend at Las Casas Filipinas in Bataan.

Whenever I put my tour guide cap on, I always try to view the country with fresh eyes—as if I were seeing it for the first time. Success in tourism parlance is all about providing a seamless end-to-end experience for our visitors and I wanted to see how well the Philippines delivered. Our two-week tour of Manila, Boracay, etc. gave me the perfect opportunity to experience it for myself.

Impressions of Manila

Dylan and I agree that Manila is just as impressive as any modern city in the developed world. The Makati and Ortigas CBDs, as well as the pocket cities of the Fort, Rockwell, Alabang and the Mall of Asia Complex are world class in terms of architecture and the amenities they offer.

Aesthetically, Manila is not lacking in character either. Its Spanish, American and Malay DNA shines through, with its mix of Hispanic churches, neo-classical buildings and homes made of indigenous nipa, capiz and mactan tiles. Barring the ugly billboards that litter the city, Manila is an interesting city to view.

The word “green” doesn’t usually crop up in the same sentence as Manila, but to my surprise, Dylan made a random comment on how well our thoroughfares were lined with lush greenery and trees (we were cruising Ayala avenue and proceeded to Roxas boulevard at that time). Come to think of it, Chairman Francis Tolentino of the MMDA has done an excellent job in greening Edsa, C5, Ortigas Avenue, McKinley Road, Buendia and Macapagal Avenue. The good Chairman deserves props for his efforts.

As we passed mall after mall, one being bigger than the next, Dylan couldn’t help but express his puzzlement at how we Filipinos voraciously consume products despite having a predominantly poor population. He couldn’t believe that three of the top ten largest malls in the world were within 30 kilometers of each other! In the Ortigas CBD alone, five malls stand side by side, each bursting with consumers. Manila is definitely a city that surprises, Dylan declared. Its people, amenities and entertainment scene is one of the most vibrant he’d seen.

We both agree that Manila is unfortunately let down by its lack of highways and byways to support its massive 14 million population. The reason why the city appears cluttered, cramped and disorderly is due to the lack of space for people to traverse with ease. Solve this and Manila can be one of the most interesting cities to visit in Asia.

Billboards that uglify the city also exacerbate the situation. It causes the city to choke on its own carbon monoxide. While the MMDA has gone on an assault to solve the billboard menace, advertising agencies that perpetuate them have sought the refuge of the courts. The result is a stalemate situation. At this stage, the only way to solve the billboard problem is for Malacañang to intercede. The President has a lot on his plate, but I hope he’d give some attention to this issue as it is becoming a real health hazard for all of us residents.

Impressions of Boracay

Boracay never fails to impress. “Traveler’s Choice” named it the best beach in the planet for 2011. “Travel + Leisure” puts it at no. 4 among the best islands in the world; and “Lonely Planet” among the top five. Looking at the island of Boracay for the first time, Dylan was taken by its natural beauty.

I was glad to see that Boracay has finally got its act together in as far as its backroom operations are concerned. Old timers will recall a rough start during the early years of commercialization. Today, we found the environs remarkably clean with the presence of local law enforcers palpable. Even the local hawkers were respectful and unobtrusive.

We noted full-scale cleaning operations between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. as visitors were sound asleep. Shop owners are now fined steeply for sanitation infractions, especially if it affects the beach area. Bangkas and motorized sea crafts have been banned from docking on the main beach. They are now relegated to the outer fringes of the island to maintain the tranquility and safety of the swimming area. Even in the underwater snorkeling reefs, cleaning operations are in full force. Snorkelers are charged a R20 environment tax for this, but we don’t mind paying this at all! Boracay’s local government and its tourism association must be commended for their training programs and initiatives towards achieving sustainability despite rapid commercialization. Well done, indeed!

The big disappointment was getting to and from the island itself. We flew Airphilexpress, the budget arm of Philippine Airlines. It was the second time I flew Airphilexpress, and as usual, they were late in every leg of the trip.

The problem with Philippine Airlines, and now Airphilexpress, is that they schedule their flights back-to-back-to-back to maximize revenues. Allowances are not made for unforeseen events like runway traffic (NAIA has a serious runway traffic problem. There is only one runway that can handle jumbo jets and another for smaller aircrafts). A delay in one flight causes a ripple effect of delays throughout the day. After decades of being plagued with the reputation for being perpetually late, PAL has apparently not learned its lesson.

We landed in the new Caticlan airport, a newly privatized airport owned and managed by the San Miguel group. I’ve heard a lot about this revitalized airport and was looking forward to seeing it. I was a bit disappointed, as despite being given a massive facelift and new equipment, it still remained small and insufficient in size to accommodate the traffic.

The transfers to and from the airport are still rough and complicated. One still needs to shuttle to the seaport, take a bangka to the main island, and finally shuttle to the hotel. The seaport is bare bones basic and painfully inefficient. Within the island of Boracay itself, the main road artery is still a single-laner and now choked with traffic given the one million tourists Boracay absorbs every year. Thankfully, all bad impressions disappear when one reaches the beautiful beach front of the island.

Heading back to Manila was another ordeal. Our flight was supposed to leave from Caticlan, but we were told that the flight had been diverted to Kalibo since the sun was setting and the Caticlan airport had no runway lights. We couldn’t believe it. A newly renovated airport without runway lights! All of us passengers had to take a two-hour shuttle to Kalibo and check in all over again. Foreigners in our midst were piqued! The bliss that Boracay’s beach had brought turned into irritation, thanks to our inefficient transport systems.

Now in Kalibo, the check-in counters were choked up with five flights leaving simultaneously. Tempers raged as everyone competed for space. As usual, all flights were delayed.

Wake up DOTC, DPWH!

Government has declared its intent on developing the tourism industry into a key revenue producer for the country. From the US$22.5 billion it generated last year, it aims to multiply this three-fold on the back of 10 million tourists by 2016. As always, the folks at DOT enjoin all of us citizens to help “sell” the country among friends and family.

But the big loophole, as we have recently experienced first hand, is government’s lack of investment in infrastructure. It is the reason why we do not achieve a seamless and enjoyable end-to-end experience for our visitors. It is also one of the key reasons why our four million tourists are but a fourth of Thailand’s and a fifth of Malaysia’s. We need more roads, more byways and a better international airport in Manila. We need better seaports, bigger airports and cemented roads in the countryside.

All this falls on the shoulders of the DOTC and DPWH, headed by Secretaries Mar Roxas and Babes Singson, respectively. While we have heard much about new infrastructure projects coming up under their watch through PPP and other financing schemes, the reality is that nothing of significance has been built up to this day.

The choke point of our tourism industry is not the lack of beautiful sights nor the lack of participation from our people. It is the lack of infrastructure. Solve this and 10 million tourists will be a breeze.

Andrew is an economist, political analyst and businessman. He is a 20-year veteran in the hospitality and tourism industry. For comments and reactions, e-mail andrew_rs6@yahoo.com.