A beach resort in the middle of Panglao’s longest stretch of white sands is now readying itself as the flagbearer of Bohol’s tourism recovery, the poster card for the new normal of Bohol tourism.
That responsibility to bring Bohol back into the photo album of picturesque palm fringed tropical sandy white beach resorts which tourists imagine their dream vacations to be rests on the shoulders of Modala Beach Resort Hotel.
Modala, a 126-room hotel with a Hawaiian vibe, sits on a five-hectare stretch of prime beachfront that now hosts popular tourist accommodations like The Bellevue Hotel, Ananyana, and some private resorts.
A beach resort hotel that lies in Tumoy Leisure Village of Brgy. Doljo in Panglao, Modala makes sure their guests will enjoy every minute of their vacation, from the powdery white sands to the gentle surf and the Hawaiian ambiance of the main hotel.
Nearby and just a walkway away is Moadto (to go) Strip Mall, the hotel's own mall which is a quick exit from the lobby.
With the resort's construction started way before the COVID-19 pandemic, Modala would have been fully operational by now if not for the pandemic that disrupted the construction schedule after construction material deliveries stopped with boats trips suspended in the country.
With work disruptions in construction and with the economy grinding to a halt, Modala suffered the same delay but construction crawled just the same. Room by room, the building took shape, the unmistakable use of free flowing spaces where walkways also channel the natural ventilation channeled the same energies to feed its robust development when elsewhere in Bohol, tourism establishments clocked in millions of losses.
And in the interim, the sprawling Hawaiian feel in an entirely Boholano community slowly took shape, enough to redefine the Doljo skyline and the totality of Panglao's economic landscape.
A beach hotel that affords guests direct ocean views as the resort sprawls on the north south orientation, guests either wake up to the rippling Doljo Bay stretching off to the Looc coves and the distant Maribojoc mountains.
Guests staying on the south side, on the other hand, gets a splendid view of the azure waters of Mindanao Sea and the islets of Balicasag, Puntod and Gak-ang or better known in the tourism maps as Virgin Island and Cat Islands.
For those who wish to shop, Modala has readied itself to respond to this through its Moadto Strip Mall built right beside the main building.
The Strip Mall has concessionaires now with more coming in the next week, shared hotelier manager and restauranteer Rommel Gonzales, adding that some concessionaires are putting up their stocks within the week. These include 360 Pharmacy, 711 Convenience Store, Ocean Suites, Lechonman, Gilligans, and Lotus restaurant, all ready to complement the Buzz Cafe which opened since early this year.
"Soon we will see them here," Gonzales said. "Our guests can just walk and go to the shop a few steps away."
With the contactor doing finishing touches in the neatly arranged rooms, Gonzales said they are beating the September 18, 2020 soft opening shcedule when 50 of its 126 rooms can be offered to guests.
This, too, as local tourism officials and local government leaders took to heart what Pres. Rodrigo Duterte ordered - the gradual opening of the economy, and in tourism-driven Panglao, the tourism sector stakeholders get the front seats.
The news elated local tourism stakeholders here who declared over 60 percent losses in the seven months that Bohol closed its doors to returning Boholanos as well as the tourists who serve as the lifeblood to Bohol's economy.
With Bohol "managing the pandemic quite well" as seen by how it controlled its few cases according to Department of Interior and Local Government Sec. Eduardo Año, Panglao
Municipal Government led by Mayor Leonila Montero declared the tourism industry re-opened in simple ceremonies a few weeks back.
The re-opening has pushed local tourism stakeholders to look at the domestic tourists living in Bohol.
While it might not be safe yet for outsiders when there are COVID-19 hotspots nearby, with Boholanos showing there is manageable local transmission, local resorts are setting their sights on domestic tourism consumers.
Even then, with the confidence-building activities aided by a collaboration of sectors, the results were not as expected, Gonzales said. But then, he said, they do not expect things to get better until maybe about two years later. Starting off by leading the squad of tourism stakeholders to present the new normal here, the resposnsibility now rests on Modala.
Now bringing the flag of reopened Bohol tourism after the pandemic, Modala does not expect to make money yet.
"From June to December this year, I have been hired to make this area known, not to make money," Gonzales said in a press conference inside the hotel's Chinese restaurant.
The Modala manager used to head its next door neighbor, The Bellevue, and with the pandemic, he shared that he could still see their laid-off workers, former attendants and service staff now jobless.
“We have to reopen,” he stressed, reassuring guests that Bohol is okay and that full measures to contain the disease have been made.
Just as service staff in surgical masks and acetate face shields took turns in serving the media during the press conference, Gonzales commented that a team from the Department of Tourism was coming within the week to audit them on the health and safety measures.
This would be necessary as re-opening hotel establishments can only do so after the DOT has issued its permit to operate, apart from local regulations like business permits and frachises.
While several huge resorts in Bohol opened their doors to offer as quarantine facilities and continue to earn during the pandemic, Modala did not.
“We’d like to keep it that way. We refused the offer because of the stigma it would leave. There is always this sanitation issue and we do not want that,” Gonzales said, further adding that DOT Secretary Bernadette Puyat, when she came, stayed in Modala, "because of that edge.”
While everyone crams to find the right groove for the tourism to get into, Gonzales said it really would take some time. "It might take us two years or more, but we will work for that," he said. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
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