Pool and Tourism

By Yen Makabenta,

When the 2008 Philippine Pool Tour unfolds in Mandaluyong City on May 6, Filipino pool officials will test in a big way what I believe is a powerful tool for promoting and growing our sport: the marriage of pool with tourism.

With the tagline “A Pool Journey Through the Archipelago”, the PPT will move from the dynamic, young city of Mandaluyong to the resort city of Puerto Princesa in Palawan, then to historic Cebu City in the Visayas, then to Davao City in Mindanao, then to Clark-Angeles City (site of the former Clark Air Base), and then to Pasay City in the Manila bay area of metropolitan Manila. Each tour stop is a major tourism destination. Each has the potential to bring tourists and pool fans together. And each pool event is conceived as an international pool tournament, where players from all over the world are welcome.

It’s not for nothing, of course, that in our sport we traditionally call a series of tournaments under a common sponsor or organizer as a “tour.” And that these events usually travel from one city to another.

In the US, there are more tours than we can count on our fingers. In Canada, there is the Canada 9-Ball Tour; in Europe, the Eurotour which moves from country to country; and in Asia, the Guinness 9-Ball Tour, which at this point makes stops in five different Asian countries.

So what we’re trying to do in the Philippines is hardly new. But perhaps what may be new and different is the explicit involvement of tourism officials and enterprises in the promotion and marketing of pool in our country.

When the Philippines first hosted the World Pool Championship in November 2006, the expensive enterprise was only made possible by the explicit backing of the Philippine government (thanks to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) of the event as a vehicle for national publicity and tourism promotions. The event took place in the world-class Philippine International Convention Center. Our government tourism agency worked with sports officials to make the event a success. Philippine Airlines signed up as sponsor, along with the prestigious Sofitel Philippine Plaza as lead hotel.

Since then, we Filipinos can no longer imagine a year without our country hosting a world pool championship event that will bring the best of the best in pool to our shores. That is why Raya Sports has inked a deal with the World Pool-Billiard Association for the hosting of the World Ten Ball Championship in the Philippines for five years starting this year. If local pool officials will have their way, the WTBC will be a permanent national fixture, a kind of pool Wimbledon which will draw to our country players and tourists from everywhere in the world.

The Philippine Pool Tour extends the idea farther. Whereas pool promotions has tended so far to concentrate in Metro Manila, our national capital, the tour seeks to take international pool tournaments to strategic cities of the entire archipelago. Pool players and fans can therefore savor the sights and sounds of our land in addition to witnessing a classy international sports event.

The tour has a good chance of success because it brings city governments in partnership with the BSCP pool community. The division of responsibility goes like this. The pool community led by the BSCP, Raya Sports and Star Billiards organizes the tournament, brings in the players, provides world-class billiards equipment, and runs the tournament professionally. The city government with the mayor in the lead takes care of venue, local support and mobilization of fans. The two work together to generate as much sponsorship as they can. And the TV coverage and the media will take care of reporting the event to the rest of the nation and the world.

In a word, it’s like applying the Olympic idea to pool. It’s win-win for both the host city and our sport.

The Mandaluyong Mayor’s Cup is an ideal pilot and model for the PPT. It’s led by Mayor Ben-hur Abalos, who is also the president of the League of Cities of the Philippines. Nicknamed the “Tiger City” for its dynamic development into a modern city, Mandaluyong has been active in sports as much as commerce and industry. It’s host to many sports tournaments year-round, including the prestigious Philippine Open of the Asian Golf Tour which takes place at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club. On the same week that the Mayor’s Cup will take place, the city will also host a national tennis tournament.

PPT organizers are betting that if the Mandaluyong Cup is a success, the rest of the tour will fall into place. The mayors of other prospective host cities are being invited to witness the birth of the tour and see what they, too, can gain from hosting an international sports event. To see is to believe.

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