What is Explorer Tourism? Why Philippines?
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Photo courtesy: John Smart
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For real adventure: Explore one of the 7107 Philippine islands today!What is “explorer tourism”? In a nutshell, explorer tourism is all about going somewhere that is so new to tourism that you may be the first person to experience or discover something there. The additional benefit of being the first to experience or discover something is that you frequently receive the honor of naming the something.
Some examples may be: scuba diving in an area where nobody has been before and discovering an uncharted sea mount with rare corals flourishing; while hiking a forest trail you find a flower that does not look quite like anything that you can find in any reference book; river trekking a tributary to a popular river you discover a cave that opens into a vast chamber that is home to a rare specie of fruit bat; or, you discover a rock with pictographs on it that are quite unlike any previously recorded and may be evidence of an ancient civilization.
By being one of the first to explore a location you also have the opportunity to help the people of the area to understand what is interesting to other potential visitors.
The challenge for many parts of the World, that are just starting to explore the concept of tourism promotion, is that they do not know what potential tourists will find interesting. Oft times there is an assumption that to please a tourist you must endeavor to offer what a tourist is already familiar with – be it food, drink, environment or amenities. In fact, with the exception of the fashionable-sheep who flock to places like Boracay or Pi Pi islands, the majority of tourists take the trouble to travel because they want to experience the difference and uniqueness of a location (be it food, drink, environment or amenities) and not its similarity and familiarity.
Visiting one island recently, my partner and I spent the best part of three days receiving the combined knowledge of twenty five, young island residents; the list that they imparted, of unique island features, flora and fauna, finally numbered more than 100 items . . . and we had not yet tapped the knowledge-base of the island’s elders!
Why is the Philippines at the top of the list of explorer tourism destinations?
The main reason why the Philippines is at the top of the list of explorer tourism destinations is two fold: geography and fiscal focus (or rather the previous lack of focus (on tourism development) in the national budget).
The Philippines has approximately 7107 islands, the majority of which have only been investigated by the occasional fishermen looking for fresh water or food. In other words, unlike in most countries around the World, with an established tourism focus, the Philippines has only recently started to take inventory of potential attractions in remote locales.
Coupled with this is that the previously stated direction for growth of the Philippines tourism industry has been in pursuit of the development of, what I call, mass-tourism (e.g the beach in Boracay, casinos in Clark, golf and casinos in Laoag).
In recent discussions with senior personnel in the Philippine Department of Tourism, the focus for 2015 and beyond will be the promotion of all of the other exciting adventures that you can have in the country, i.e. the things that explorer tourism most usually discovers. However, as most of the people who are tasked with exploring the post-2015 adventure vacations are the same people who have thus far been advising Boracay, Clark etc. on how best to handle the needs of tourists, there is a potential for a disconnect between expectation and delivery.
If you really want to explore somewhere untouched by commercial tourism and if you really want to discover something that is totally new or rare, come to the Philippines and get off the beaten track in places like: Sibale, Sibuyan and Marinduque. Or, send an email to us here at GetWet Asia [philippines@getwet-asia.com] and let us know how/what you like to explore or what you would like to discover.