MICE, staycation travelers flock to city

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The head of Iloilo City’s tourism office said the city has become a prime destination for domestic travelers in the last few months, mostly for either Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions (MICE) or leisure purposes.

True to the city’s vision as a premier MICE destination in the country, City Tourism Office chief Junel Ann Divinagracia said that major MICE events were held and will be held in the city.

Divinagracia cited the recently concluded Philippine Elementary School Principals Association (PESPA) national convention, which will have another batch of 3,000 school heads here in the city this July.

She also mentioned the upcoming jubilee homecoming of University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) alumni.

“We posted last time a schedule of upcoming conventions, and the [Iloilo Convention Center] is almost always full. There are upcoming national conventions, aside from the PESPA, those of elementary school principals, they have a second batch who will be coming this July,” she said.

Divinagracia also said that many travelers had been coming to the city for staycations or vacations in accommodation establishments like hotels.

She said staycation has become a trend with higher-end accommodation establishments since the start of April after the city eased stringent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions.

“Starting [last] April, when the situation was becoming more okay, our hotels had been accepting a lot of staycations, especially [in Mandurriao], they are always full. There were no conventions or seminars, so there is a ‘revenge travel’, where those who are earning good seek to have staycations to get out of their homes,” she stated.

Due to the overwhelming demand for travel to the city for MICE and staycations and other leisure purposes in the city and province of Iloilo, Divinagracia said that restaurants and pasalubong centers are already running out of products.

She said that the tourism office has been continuously coordinating with key tourism stakeholders to provide products and discounts especially for MICE visitors who are coming in droves.

“People are going here for food, and our restaurants and pasalubong centers are running out of stocks. So we are very thankful that we are somehow recovering,” she said.

“We have asked stakeholders to prepare, like to replenish their stocks, and we encourage them to offer something new to have a special memorable stay for our delegates. For us in the Iloilo City Government, we collaborate with airlines to give delegates discounted airfares. We also opened with 2GO for them to be able to give discounts, even small,” she added.

Divinagracia said they are currently developing night tours in the city, which they had already tried with visitors invited by MORE Power, the city’s power distributor.

“They loved it. We will continue with this because they said it was cooler, and they can focus more on the destinations because there are less people and it’s not hot. That is also the reason why we are gradually lighting up our heritage buildings, starting with Molo Plaza and Molo Church,” she said.

Divinagracia said they are also preparing for the Iloilo Bike Festival, which is set to attract many biking enthusiasts from other parts of the country, in conjunction with the city’s aim as a biking capital of the country.