Sustaining the Iloilo Hub

By Charles Lim

Ilongos did not see this coming so soon. Travelers were greeted this year to not two but now three international destinations they can fly out to from Iloilo. First it was the reinstatement of the flights to Singapore and Hong Kong which were suspended during the pandemic in 2020 and now, Bangkok has been added to the list.

Filipinos have breached themselves to be in the top bracket in tourist arrivals in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and remarkably, in Japan and South Korea as well. More than 500,000 Filipinos visited these countries in 2024, and that’s a revelation well respected in the travel and tourism sectors. Without doubt, Ilongos will contribute significantly to the numbers in 2025.

Cebu Pacific has answered their call for more flights. Apart from the three international destinations the airline has also provided connectivity to  12 domestic points (and still counting), laying ideal conditions for business and tourism growth for Western Visayas. Never has Iloilo been so effectively linked to so many cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao as of today.

The airline has recently added Dumaguete, Daraga, Tacloban, Tagbilaran and Zamboanga to their existing routes to Manila, Cebu, Clark, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, General Santos and Puerto Princesa.

The question now is sustainability. Cebu Pacific, with an impressive marketing network and solid operations, can only do so much. Local stakeholders in the entire island and across to Negros Occidental should capitalize on these linkages and do their share in creating awareness and benefits of this regional aviation hub, literary, at their doorsteps. To many, it would mean, no more torturous connecting flights in Manila.

The options are opened now to depart from Iloilo City for Singapore and connect with almost 20 airlines to choose from, to anywhere in Europe or the East Coast of North America and any city in Australia and New Zealand. Likewise, from Hong Kong, one can connect anywhere to North America with almost a dozen flights a day to San Francisco  and Los Angeles and New York.

How local stakeholders – LGUs, hoteliers, resort owners, tour operators, travel agents and business chambers – can contribute to its regional hub success is plentiful:

– Participate in road shows with the airline and tourism and transportation companies to create awareness of the Iloilo hub to Capiz, Antique, Aklan, Guimaras and Negros Occidental. These provinces serve as the catchment market.

– Host travel agents, travel writers, bloggers, influencers both foreign and local, to familiarization trips to your cities in collaboration with the airline.

– Promote your local festivals with greater intensity than ever, targeting Cebu Pacific’s network inside your radar.

– Participate with the regional Department of Tourism office (DOT6) in sales missions to Singapore and Hong Kong to create a healthy inbound market.

– As your destination is relatively unknown (except for Boracay which is perched as an elite class of its own), create attractive tour packages and reach out to a consortium of agents and wholesalers in Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.

– DOT6 and the Iloilo MICE Alliance to initiate and implement a long term marketing plan for 2025 with support from LGUs and business establishments such as SMX, SM Malls, Ayala, Injap Holdings, Megaworld, Iloilo Festival Foundation and our new airport operator.

– Riding on helping a brother principle, explore viability of an turbo prop aircraft service between Iloilo City and Caticlan, cutting land travel from 6 hours, to perhaps 30-40 minutes.

The list goes on.

Cebu Pacific’s investments in mounting and sustaining these flights are enormous in every angle we look at it. We asked for these flights for connectivity, growth and economic reasons. Let’s do our role now and sustain these flights for continued  progress and a better tomorrow.