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.
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