Tourist arrivals in Ilocos Norte picking up this summer

Tourist arrivals in Ilocos Norte picking up this summer

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff Reporter

Tourist arrivals—by land and by air—are picking up in this northern gateway of Luzon with the onset of Lenten season and long summer season.

The pristine beaches of Pagudpud; the towering windmills of Bangui; the epic Kapurpurawan rocks formation, the century-old Cape Bojeador Lighthouse and the unique dragon fruit plantation of Burgos; and the exciting sand boarding experience at the La Paz sand dunes are among favorite tourist destinations in Ilocos Norte’s first district while the mouth-watering empanada and longganisa in Batac including the Marcos museum and the UNESCO-world heritage site St. Augustine Church in Paoay attract tourists to visit the southern municipalities of the province.

Aside from those, new tourism destinations in the eastern municipalities are being build-up by local government units here in cooperation with the provincial government of Ilocos Norte to sustain the increasing number of tourist arrivals.

These include the Marcos trail in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, the birth place of then President Ferdinand E. Marcos where a stone house museum of the Marcoses is open for visitors then adjacent to it is the Sarrat Presidencia connecting visitors to the picturesque Santa Monica church being promoted as a pilgrimage site.

In Nueva Era town, the government-run eco-park and tribal village keeps on attracting foreign and local tourists here including multi-sports enthusiasts hiking up Ilocos Norte’s summer capital of Solsona, Ilocos Norte due to its cold weather and numerous pine trees similar to Baguio City.

With the expected increase of tourist arrivals in Ilocos Norte in view of travel cancellations going to the typhoon-hit Visayas and Mindanao tourism destinations, Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos is urging tourism stakeholders here to prepare for the influx of tourists and ensure their safety and quality service for tourist visiting up north.

In view of the massive tourism campaign promotion of Ilocos Norte in the past two years, more than half million local and foreign tourists have been recorded by the provincial tourism office  during the holy week in 2012.

The figure was based on reports from hotel owners, homestay, lodging houses, traffic and tourist assistance centers.

All hotels and transient homes with a capacity of 26, 000 rooms were booked and spillover went to private houses to homestay while others set up tents around the major destinations.

Major restaurants and small time carinderias also noted the dramatic increase of tourists every year.

Customers who wanted to taste Ilocano cuisine like bagnet, longganisa, empanada and miki had to form long queues to eat these Ilocano delicacies.

The increase in number of tourists also brought livelihood opportunities to locals who put up food stalls and sold souvenir items in key tourism destinations.

Taking its cue from previous experiences such as food shortage in major tourist destinations, various tourism stakeholders here had formulated plans to stockpile enough food stocks and prepared several entertainment activities for tourists to enjoy and have “more fun” in Ilocos Norte.