What’s new?
Travel time, for one. The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) effectively cuts an hour from Manila to the venue. Wide, three-lane thoroughfares, the convenience of SCTEx is instrumental to the increase of domestic tourism to Subic and Clark.
Accessibility brings a demand for accommodations and service. New B&Bs, a Balinese-inspired group of villas, and a modern executive-type condominium complex, a few restaurants and luxury goods outlets, have since sprung.
Perhaps in anticipation of AdCon, even the row of duty-free shops looks refurbished, almost festive, in fact.
Transportation is still a necessity, with nature attractions uphill or down Subic Bay. Nonetheless, Jungle Joe’s Amusement Park, Ocean Adventure, the Tree Top adventure, and Zoobic Safari have developed additional attractions that may be worth the ride.
While the Subic Bay Freeport suffers a dearth of internet cafes, the hotels offer WiFi. The desperate can chill with their devices at the AdCon venues, or fight it out with the local young gamers off the base.
A few steps from the freeport, is Olongapo City. Celebrating 50 years as a municipality, the City offers its own beachfront resorts and watering holes extending to Barretto and Subic towns. Local jeepneys plying the route are a plus.
Whatever the purpose, and whatever the means, the AdCon knows how to rock their own little shindig. And that may just be what the Subic Bay Freeport needs.
