Tourism office to promote city’s gastronomic delights

ILOILO City – The Iloilo City Tourism and Development Office has come up with another initiative to further boost the tourism industry here – promoting the city’s “gastronomic districts.”

“We are dividing the districts into culinary attractions so that visitors and tourists can have a variety of food to choose from (and enjoy their stay),” said City Tourism Officer Ben Jimena. Festivals alone cannot possibly sustain the interest of tourists because these are seasonal, Jimena explained.

Jaro district will be made to showcase Ilonggo delicacies; Molo district, its pancit molo; La Paz district, its well-known batchoy; Arevalo district, its long stretch of seafood restaurants along the beach; and Mandurriao district, its kansi and patahan.

Written By DAVID ISRAEL SINAY for Panay News

“Most of the tourists coming over are interested to taste the delicacies and good food of Iloilo. The city has become a family getaway, especially during long weekends,” Jimena noted.
The “seasonal” festivals of Iloilo City are the Dinagyang (every January), Arevalo Fireworks Festival (every January), Chinese New Year (every February), Candelaria (every February), and Paraw Regatta (every March).

In January this year, Iloilo City started drumming up interest to its popular La Paz batchoy by cooking this noodle soup made with pork organs, crushed pork cracklings, shrimp, vegetables, chicken stock, chicken breast, beef loin and round noodles in a giant vat. It had hoped that this endeavor would land in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “biggest batchoy” bowl.

Four months later, in May of this year, the city tourism office also began a search for the proverbial “Ilonggo breakfast” in cooperation with various hotels and restaurants. The winning entries were the arroz carajuevo and linupak layered root crops. Hotels, resorts and restaurants agreed to offer this food combination as the Ilonggo Breakfast.

Last week, the Department of Tourism and the Japan International Cooperation Agency initiated a Basic Tourism Statistics Training in Palawan. “We were taught how to gather information and reliable statistics for decision making,” Jimena said.

Jimena said tourism offices must be knowledgeable of the number of tourists coming in and out of their areas, the occupancy rates of hotels, and the number of days a tourist stays. “Through these data, we can find out if we have the capacity to accommodate visitors, and the services we can offer them,” Jimena said.

Jimena said promoting other beautiful attractions around Iloilo City will also bolster the city’s reputation as a gateway for tourism. He mentioned the nearby island-province of Guimaras and towns in Iloilo Province such as Concepcion./PN >>> Original article

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