Why serving good batchoy is no longer enough

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

There is a statistic floating around from the SustainAbility Directions 2026 forum that should terrify – and thrill – every business owner in Iloilo. While most of the economy is trudging along at a 5-6% growth rate, sectors built on “human experience” – tourism, events, arts – are sprinting ahead at 15-25%.

The numbers, presented by economist Ronilo M. Balbierañ, confirm what anyone trying to book a wedding venue or a concert ticket already knows: We are witnessing the death of “good enough.”

He is not wrong about the direction of travel, and the numbers are loud enough that even skeptics should pay attention.

Western Visayas logged a 10.25 percent rise in tourist arrivals in 2024 and generated PHP 74 billion in tourism revenue, based on Department of Tourism data reported publicly.

On the national side, tourism’s share of the economy hit about 8.9 percent in 2024, also based on official reporting.

Accommodation and food service activities are back in growth mode, with one 2024 services brief putting the sector’s value at PHP 447 billion and rising.

So yes, people are spending on trips, food, nights out, and gatherings, the whole bundle of “let’s go do something” that Covid put on pause and then unleashed.

The World Economic Forum has been talking about the “experience economy,” too, with a recent Davos-season piece arguing that the boom is real but warning it has to benefit more people than just those already positioned to profit.

For decades, Iloilo’s business model was simple. Cook great food. Keep the hotel clean. Be polite. But in this new two-speed economy, competence is merely the baseline. It’s the admission fee, not the winning strategy. If you’re just selling a bowl of La Paz Batchoy for PHP 150, you are vulnerable. You’re selling a commodity. To survive the next decade, you need to sell the theatre of the batchoy – the history, the ritual, the story.

Balbierañ cited the rapid sellout of Les Misérables tickets in Manila as proof that people are starving for connection. They are not paying for a seat; they are paying for a memory. This is where legacy businesses in Iloilo are at risk. You can have a 60-year reputation, but if a newcomer offers a “vibe” that looks better on Instagram and feels more immersive, the market will shift. It’s not fair, but it’s happening.

This brings us to the tricky part: the line between innovation and a cheap gimmick.

During the forum, Balbierañ mentioned Japan’s “slapping bars” (where patrons literally pay to be slapped) to illustrate that people will pay for anything unconventional. It is a provocative example, but let’s be real: Iloilo is the City of Love, not the City of Masochism. We don’t need to import extreme trends. The challenge for our entrepreneurs is to find our own version of “extreme” engagement that respects our dignity. We need to modernize our heritage without turning it into a caricature.

There is also a serious economic warning here. A growth disparity of 20% between leisure sectors and traditional industries (like agriculture or manufacturing) creates a lopsided recovery. We are building an economy heavily reliant on discretionary spending. That works great when people have extra cash for “revenge travel.” But if inflation spikes or global markets wobble, the first thing people cut is the weekend trip to Iloilo. Policymakers need to ensure we aren’t neglecting the boring, foundational industries while we chase the shiny tourist dollar.

Yet, there is a silver lining for the workforce. As AI and automation swallow up logistics and clerical jobs, the “human touch” is becoming the only un-hackable skill. You can automate a spreadsheet; you cannot automate the feeling of a curated wedding or a live festival.

This shifts our educational mandate. We need to stop treating soft skills – hospitality, arts, event management – as secondary to technical skills. In an experience economy, being able to read a room is just as valuable as writing code.

The “experience” wave is here. We can either ride it with authenticity, or we can watch as the market moves on to places that do.