Promising new Asia hotel jobs and restaurant jobs at Alona Beach and other
areas on Panglao island in Bohol province, this has been of special interest to us. Boracay island is well developed and now expensive. Panglao promises a low cost buy in for new hotels and tourist projects once the airport is built. The hotel jobs and restaurant jobs this would bring were eyed with anticipation. We have been following The Panglao International airport project in the Philippines for almost 2 years. The Panglao location has a locational superiority over Boracay since the supply chain for upscale recources is available in Cebu City, the second largest city in the Philippines. Cebu City is only an hour and a half away by a Fast Cat boat.
The original plans were laid by Cory Aquino's administration and then taken over by GMA who promised to move forward quickly but failed to do so. It is also a pet project of the Governor of Bohol province. The original budget of PHP 4.6 billion became stale as costs rose to PHP 7.4 billion. Detractors and environmental objections that the pristine waters and marine life were at risk, abounded. When the new President Begnino Aquino III took power it looked like the project was dead.
But those who remembered that the project was first envisaged by his mother Cory did not loose heart. Finally the New President has allocated the PHP 7.4 B. in the 2011 national budget and has personally voiced his support. Read more HERE. Aquino has renamed the Airport as the Bohol International Airport and reaffirmed the location in Panglao.
The boutique resort Eskaya, a member of SLH Small Luxury Hotels of the World is the only luxury hotel on Panglao. Now we finally anticipate new public announcements by hotel developers of forthcoming resorts and the associated hotel jobs and resort jobs. The major tourist groups that currently go to Panglao are Koreans followed by Japanese. Korean airlines have expressed interest in having direct flight to Panglao.
A small European community has been in Panglao for some time including an Austrian Bakery, a motorcycle club and a German villa hotel and restaurant.
