There’s no way for us to go, but level up: STIPC

By JOY R. SEVILLA

ALABEL, Sarangani (May 30, 2014) – Taking into consideration all positive and negative feedbacks regarding the May 16-17 Sarangani Bay (SarBay) Festival 2014, the Sarangani Tourism and Investment Promotions Center (STIPC) said the provincial government has already plans to be more prepared for an expected bigger and better SarBay next year.

“There’s no way for us to go, but to level up,” tourism officer Larry Asparin of the STIPC said in an interview.

He said that SarBay organizers are now in the process of evaluating everything including the return of investments (ROI), the visitor and tourists count, and the economic impact of SarBay 2014, dubbed as the biggest beach festival in Southern Philippines today.

“We are in the level of evaluating where did we go wrong and how can we make it better-staged. Nakakataba ng puso dahil halos lahat ng feedbacks magaganda, except for a few negative comments. Hindi naman talaga maiiwasang may negative comments because it is not easy to handle a big event such as SarBay. The good thing is, we learned what needs to be improved next time,” Asparin said.

Asparin claimed they only target 25 percent increase in tourist/visitor arrivals this year, that is around 100,000 people compared to last year’s number, but they are overwhelmed with the result as the initial count reached over 120,000 people.

“May mga taga-California, Canada, and Ireland na turista. So hindi lang taga-rito sa Pilipinas ang mga nag-join, may mga taga ibang bansa rin, and they were there even before and after the festival,” he said.

SarBay, Asparin added, is not just all about fun and party, tourism and investments, but it also brings in livelihood for the barangay folk.

“Andaming kumita sa barangay during the festival. Mga dalawang kilometro rin kasi ang haba ng mga naka-park na sasakyan sa gilid ng kalsada. Yung mga residente ang nagbantay, P20 each per car,” said Asparin.

He bared that there will be a lot of improvements next year.

Asparin said organizers plan to tap private firms to set up more portalets in the main venue.

It was learned that the provincial government rented 20 portable toilets for P2,500 each for the duration of #sarbayfest2014. Next year, they target to set up at least 100 portalets.

“If we will not be able to do it, then we can commission partners from the outside,” he said.

Asparin expressed gratefulness to Congressman Emmanuel Pacquiao, Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon, Vice Governor Jinkee Pacquiao, and all the board members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, saying SarBay 2014 will not be a success without their support.

Governor Solon, on the other hand, pointed out that more than the fun and pleasure, the provincial government is up to delivering awareness to the people on how to protect and preserve Sarangani Bay which is the ultimate objective of the SarBay celebration. (Joy R. Sevilla/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)