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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

Bohol is one of the most visited provinces in the Philippines since the

year 2004 because of its natural beauty, cheap commodity, friendly people,

accessibility and its own exotic animals, that can be found only in this province. It

was 2004 when fluctuation of tourists coming to Bohol started¹. Tourist arrivals

have increased from 567,174 in 2012 to 641,614 in 2013².

As of 2012 and early months of 2013, there were enormous demands

and interests from tourists all over the world to visit Bohol, as one of the most

beautiful places in South East Asia when it comes to scenic beauty, both for the

reasons of business and pleasure. Most of the visitors find the island of Bohol as

very wonderful and worth to visit again³. Generally, the guests who visited the

island were very overwhelmed and attracted to the famous Chocolate Hills, the

tarsier which is the smallest primate in the world, the old churches, the extreme

adventure parks overseeing wonderful sceneries, activities like snorkeling, scuba

diving, whale and dolphin watching and the famous white beaches.

But before the end of the year 2013, an earthquake suddenly struck the

province of Bohol that destroyed most of its tourist attractions particularly the old

century churches. The tragedy that had happened slowed down the influx of

tourists coming to Bohol. However, with the fact that Bohol is a paradise and with
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the constant plugging of cheap airline and boat tickets, Caucasian and Asian

tourists are still flocking and keep on visiting to Bohol. Moreover, since there will

be increased in flights of the local airlines to the United States and participating

countries in the European Union, plus the upgrading of 12 international airports in

the Philippines, it is expected to boost again the number of tourists coming not

only in the province of Bohol, but for the entire country starting in the year 20154.

In this era, people are so stressed out of life because of the way of living

the society is putting up. People are now interested and educated to the value of

relaxation and distressing to prevent burnout, fatigue and stress. It is also a way

to improve the person’s efficiency and productivity. In order to attain all of these,

people find time to travel, go to amusement parks, beautiful sceneries and

beaches. Especially, that nowadays there are vast numbers of airlines and ferry

companies that offer cheap and discounted tickets. Thus, even farther places like

Bohol, becomes accessible to many people, since it has its own domestic airport

and incoming international airport as well as seaports, anywhere on the island.

In reality, the today’s generation has seldom seen and understood the

life of the wild animals for the reason of animal extinction and the busy course of

life. But now, they are exposing their interest to watch and explore the life of the

wild animals for the reason that they have never seen these animals in their

entire life. Most of these tourists are very enthusiastic to see and learn the

different wild animals that inhabit the island of the Philippines. Seemingly, these

tourists who visited Bohol have different nationalities and very diverse. These
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diverse tourists have different preferences, interests and wants when choosing

tourist spots and destinations.

As of 2013, there are several registered and unregistered tourist spots in

Bohol, consisting of animal sanctuaries, wild parks, adventure parks, man-made

spots and natural spots, in response to the massive numbers of tourists coming

to this province. Only a few of these tourist spots are considered and operated as

a wild animal and adventure parks that meet the needs and demands of tourists

who want to explore and observe the wild life of the animals. Considering, the

expected enormous arrivals of tourists, these animal parks could not

accommodate all these guests and visitors. It is a fact that some were left not

entertained and not properly accommodated.

Considering the existing circumstances, another wild animal and

adventure park should be opened in order to accommodate and entertain the

great number of tourists in Bohol, as well as to educate the young and old

generation of the wild and exotic animals that are going extinct. Considering also

that the government has recognized the tourism in Bohol as one of the major

contributors of the income in the province and livelihood of its inhabitants.

It is in this light that the researcher saw a need to re-open the Loboc

Tour Park in Candabong, Loboc, Bohol and revived this as an ecological and

adventure park. A park to be accredited by the Department of Environmental and

Natural Resources and Department of Tourism which would display and exhibit

wild animals in their natural habitat. In addition, the researcher also perceived a

need to explore the feasibility and viability of re-establishing the said park as
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ecological and adventure park in Candabong, Loboc, where the proposed

business is already located along the road of Candabong going to the Bohol

Tarsier Conservation Area and the famous man-made forest. Candabong, Loboc

is an ideal project site because the location is closely associated with nature,

about 1 kilometer away from the forest and 30 kilometers away from the city

proper.

Statement of the Problem

It is difficult, if not impossible, for a business proprietor, to join the level

of high competition by maintaining a relatively smaller investment. Thus, in any

investment plan, the necessity of conducting feasibility study becomes a

mandatory requirement rather than a mere formality or compliance to encourage

investors.

This study aimed to look into the feasibility of re-establishing Loboc Tour

as Ecological and Adventure Park in Candabong, Loboc, Bohol where tourism

flourishes and many tourists are passing by going to Tarsier Conservation Area,

Bilar Man-Made Forest, Butterfly Garden and famous Chocolate Hills.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of demand for a wild animal and adventure park as

a tourist attraction in Candabong, Loboc, Bohol?

2. What are the technical requirements of the business?

3. What are the human resource requirements?

4. What is the total project cost?

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5. How viable is the project financially?

6. What are the contributions of the proposed business to the society

and economy?

Significance of the Study

It is believed that this feasibility study would benefit the following:

The Owners / Capitalists. A well-planned re-establishment and

construction of ecological and adventure park will result to effective and efficient

services to customers and clientele, thus, it will redound to higher customer

satisfaction. A high customer satisfaction means greater income because tourists

will keep on coming back to avail the services. This study will aid the capitalist in

making decision and will guide him in the operation of this business.

Future Researchers. This feasibility study will serve as reference for

those who wish to undertake a study similar to this one in the future.

Scope and Limitations

The purpose of this study is to determine the viability of re-establishing

Loboc Tour as Ecological and Adventure Park in Candabong, Loboc, Bohol. This

park has already been existed in the past years but it was closed due to

mismanagement. The aspects of this study are market, technical, management,

socio-economic and financial.

The respondents were local, domestic and foreign tourists in Bohol,

travel and tour agents, and competitors who participated in the survey. Local
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tourists are the inhabitants of Bohol while domestic tourists are the Filipino

nationals.

The sample size was quite extensive with 200 samples for the tourists

and 28 for the travel and tour agencies.

The level of analysis of the market is based only on the data gathered

from the respondents.

The researcher failed to gather data from the Bohol Tourism Office and

Philippine Tarsier Botanika since the data being asked are not yet available.

Some data were obtained from the internet.

The researcher prepared a hypothetical projection based from the

response of the tourists during the survey in 2014.

This study is conducted in the School Year 2014 – 2015.

METHODOLOGY

This study used descriptive method of research. Descriptive method of

research is a fact-finding study with adequate and accurate interpretation of the

findings. It seeks to describe, analyze, determine, and illustrate the problem. This

study concerned with the feasibility of re-establishing Eco Tour Park as

Ecological and Adventure Park, thus, the descriptive method was the most

appropriate method to use.

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Research Environment

Data were gathered in Loboc Tourism Complex by the researcher using

questionnaires and interview guide. Questionnaires were distributed to the

guests and visitors who have disembarked from the floating restaurant and wish

to proceed to the Tarsier Conservation Area. Interviews were conducted to

Travel and Tours Agents such as tourist guides and tourist drivers.

Loboc Tourism Complex is located at the center of the town of Loboc.

Loboc is situated in the interior part of the province, where many tourists were

fascinated to visit, because of its nice spots and accessibility. Loboc is one

of the most visited towns in the province of Bohol because of its famous floating

restaurants that cruise over the long river going to the Busay falls which passes

by beautiful natural sceneries. It is categorized as a third class municipality. The

primary income of the town comes from the tourism industry.

Research Respondents

The research respondents were all the tourists, who got off from floating

restaurant and temporarily stayed in Loboc Tourism Complex before proceeding

to the Tarsier Conservation Area. Since the proposed ecological and adventure

park is just a few kilometers away from Bohol Tarsier Conservation Area, visitors

will just pass along the said location when going to the said area. Therefore,

there is a higher probability that these guests and visitors who wish to proceed to

the said tourist spot will be fascinated to drop by in order to watch and observe

the wild animals and experience the thrill of walking on the shaky hanging

bridges overseeing wonderful sceneries.

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Research Instrument

The researcher used a researcher-made survey questionnaire and

interview guide as tools in gathering data. A questionnaire is a list of planned

written questions related to a particular topic with space provided for indicating

the response to each question. An interview guide does not go into details but

provides ideas, and allows intervention to freely pursue relevant topics in depth.

The questionnaire was composed of multiple choice, multiple response,

and open ended questions. There were 200 questionnaires prepared, distributed

to the respondents and retrieved. In addition, a total of 28 travel and tour

agencies such as tour guides and tour drivers were interviewed.

Research Procedure

Gathering of Data. A purposive convenience method was applied in this

research. The researcher went to the Loboc Tourism Complex and asked all

tourists as well as their tourist guides and drivers. The respondents were given a

brief orientation on what the study is all about before they were made to answer

the questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed personally by the

researcher together with her three hired assistants and all were retrieved.

Moreover, the researcher went to the different wild life sanctuaries and animal

parks to conduct some interview.

Treatment of Data. The data gathered were organized through the use

of tabulation table. Frequency was determined and percentages were

established.