Talk:Donsol

Comments
New Changes (November 12, 2009):
 * added other things to do
 * organized sleep section, so it's actually legible and thus useful

Changes I've made (WT-en) Rubybox 23:10, 5 March 2007 (EST)
 * removed link to Giddy's Place since, as posted on their website, "Opening of Giddy's Place Indefinitely Postponed"
 * added link to whale shark interaction guidelinks from Ecotour Donsol site, as well as guide to Donsol Visitor's Center
 * added general info about whale sharks

Giddy's place
Hi Sertmann,

I was the one who did the recent changes in Donsol before you started revising it just a few hours after. I logged in now so that you can see me and we could chat.

I also own Giddy's Place. I have a few queries about your revision and a few thoughts.

- in the things to do page, it becomes a single paragraph with only a few descriptions of what can be done. As a native of Donsol, I would like to promote the activities in Donsol that can give the readers a more in depth understanding of activities. Donsol has been known for more than a decade only for the whalesharks. I am trying to change that as there are a lot of other activities there. - in the whaleshark interaction, a lot of operators are advertising their services when the interaction is done by the tourism office. You removed Giddy's place there when we are also booking the whaleshark as an added service to our guests. - we are also a dive operator, we got removed from the diving section while the others were maintained. Manta Bowl is not a dive operator but rather a dive site. You left it appearing like a dive operator.

The changes that you made may look better aesthetically but it actually provides less and more confusing information.

I am new here and I am slowly trying to edit the Donsol page to look better but I cannot change (dont want to) the things put by the other operators. It takes a while but the recent changes you made is more confusing to someone who knows Donsol. Moreso for one who reads the page to know Donsol.

The version previous to your changes may have a lot of Giddy's Place links but that is because we really have a lot of activities and tours that are provided only by Giddy's Place like ATV, Kayak in Ogod River, Shrimp Catching tour. We opened just this April 2009 and we are the only resort with a website, we have more comments in tripadvisor than the other resorts that have been there for more than 5 years. We are raising the bar for Donsol and am trying to provide whole year round tourism for a place that was just seasonal for years. I have invested heavily in my father's hometown in something that I will not even get back in 10 years unless I am successful in changing the tourism in Donsol to whole year round. The investment is more of a personal help to the town to have something world class in quality and service (I have the only hotel things we global travellers consider standard - cable TV, Wifi, credit card facilities, in room fridge, intercom, 24 hour security and reception, Spa services, year round operations, first and only pool good for diving lessons in donsol and in the surrounding 75km area, first restaurant and bar open late and the whole year, first to introduce new tours in such a long time, first tour operator and dive shop open whole year round in donsol, first with a website, etc...)

This is the reason I was concerned with the changes you made. It does not help promote donsol further and creates a bit of confusion and may cause your page to be less informative. I know that you do a lot of checking but I know Donsol and I know the details...

Can we revert back to the old version and could you allow me in the next few weeks to fix it aesthetically... one error is that there are two DO sections...

We value Wiki Travel and we think it is a good way to promote a destination but I hope you agree that unless you are familiar with the place, changes on the site should not be drastic.

Thanks and Happy Holidays. Raymond


 * Hey Raymond, Happy holidays to you too.


 * It's not so much that it looks better, rather than we have a pretty strict rule that one business only get's one listing. And since we are target of much spamming here, and spend a great deal of time cleaning it up, I don't think you'll find much support for changing this policy. If I made any mistakes with the other listings, please, by all means, clear them up. Manta Bowl seems it should be removed altogether.


 * Now regarding your hotel, adding yourself to every category simply will not fly, you need to pick one category and list yourself there, be it as a dive resort in do, or a hotel in sleep, but you are welcome to write what else you do in that listing. As a welcome change I did not find your listings particularly touty, but you might want to give our don't tout page a read anyway for some further advice, especially this section


 * Don't list the same place many times. Yes, a guesthouse may have a restaurant, a bar, an internet cafe and a dance show, but you need to pick one of "See", "Eat", "Drink", "Sleep" and "Contact" to slot it under. That said, exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis if, for example, a hotel has a famous, separately named bar or restaurant that also draws significant numbers of non-resident customers. Also note that businesses should be listed in only one article for the town in which the business operates.


 * Welcome business owners is another useful page. If you want to provide information on all the other activities available in Donsol, by all means do that. One way of doing this could be to write up a (non listified) prose section in "Do", with the activities available - and then I wouldn't mind terribly much if you sneaked in a mention of your place in the end, something like;


 * Activities in Donsol has traditionally been limited to watching the whale sharks, but recently many other options have sprung up; like.... yada yada yada...., a good starting point is Giddy's place.


 * Hope that helps, otherwise use the Donsol talk page for questions, so other experienced users also get a chance chime in with advice on how to tackle this in the best way. --(WT-en) Stefan (sertmann) talk 10:27, 28 December 2009 (EST)

Hey Sertmann,

Thanks for the reply... I will try to see on how to do it but the activities in DO I will just put available only in Giddy's Place since it really is. I feel that the activity needs to be emphasized and cannot be put just on the Giddy's input. In DO we are emphasizing the activity with its description and not Giddy's. I'll do it as you suggested above (with yada yada).

My Restaurant is separately named Butanding Bar and Restaurant and my spa D'SPA Donsol....so I will put them separately...

How did you transfer our conversation to here? Cut and Paste?

Raymond

Hello, I am Rodel from Donsol. I just edit the name of Diveshop from Fun Dive Asia to Bicol Dive Center which I owned and operate now in Donsol, My office is just across the tourism office. I hope that this is ok to you. This will help everyone to know that the email address & Contacts, and name of my business is no longer Fun Dive Asia but Bicol Dive Center. Thank you & God bless.

Rodel Lita