Mayor Inaugurates New Travel Agency

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia led the inauguration of Kyoken Travel and Tours

last Saturday, challenging its operator to “make our tourism system more sophisticated and convenient to tourists.”

Kyoken Travel and Tours, owned and operated by Bacolodnon April Mendoza-Kitagawa, is an authorized ticketing office located at Door No. 2 Eusebio Arcade at Lacson Street.
Leonardia said he is pleased that something like this is happening in Bacolod every now and then, because whenever business and travel go up, tourism is also doing well.

In 2004 when he became mayor again, Bacolod had 1,612 hotel rooms, but now all the hotels combined have 2,678 rooms, and still counting. A newly constructed hotel on Lacson St. has 80 rooms, while Robinsons Place is also putting up a hotel, now on its fourth floor of construction.

“We can see that in that aspect, we don’t have problems anymore. Our hotel rooms are already sufficient to serve the demands of tourists coming into the city,” the mayor said.
Leonardia also said there are other businesses related to the hotel industry, and one of them is the travel agency that facilitates travel in and out of Bacolod.

“(In) the outbound, (it) probably would mean that looking at it in a myopic sense it cannot help us because money goes out. But another aspect of travelling abroad results that our people will have a wider horizon and makes it very educational. When they come back, they become more innovative. They implement what they see abroad which is good for us here. We can still say that it is still contributory,” he said. “When we talk of inbound, it is clear that money comes in. When you travel, you need these travel agencies or operators. Not all the time you can be on your own. When they are good, like Kyoken here for example, and serve the public so well, especially inbound, their (tourists) stay in the city will be hassle free,” he said.

“Sometimes, it is human nature that in a particular place, you had a bad experience and if you have trauma or got irritated in a place, then you will never come back (there) anymore,” he stressed.

“When tourists experience good times in Bacolod and when they go back to their respective places, they become our walking advertisements,” he said.

On Kitagawa’s Kyoken, the mayor said, “I am sure that she is going to contribute to make our tourism system more sophisticated and more convenient. I would like to congratulate her and hopes she becomes very successful and is able to serve the travel needs of our people outbound and inbound. I hope that many others will also follow.”

For her part, Kitagawa said that she is also grateful that the mayor encourages investors to come to Bacolod.

She said she is hopeful that her business will thrive as Bacolod is truly conducive for business and investments.

Kyoken Travel and Tours serves domestic and international ticketing, and accepts domestic and international packages, and hotel accommodations. It is open from Mondays to Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. For reservations or inquiries, one can inquire through 0923-1104111.* (DBDangcalan)