Ilocos Norte rolls out better planning, forecasting for tourist influx

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

Laoag City—The Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte is preparing for better planning and forecasting to ensure tourists will keep coming back in this premiere tourism destination of the north.

Last December, the Provincial Tourism Office has obtained a record high of 30,864 tourist arrivals or those who stayed overnight in hotels excluding day visitors in Ilocos Norte.

Just like in the previous holiday break last summer, Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos said hotel and restaurant associations here reported that they were fully booked from December 26 to January 3.

“We haven’t anticipated this huge number of tourists visiting us this December. It’s a good surprise but at the same time, nagkaubusan ng tubig at pagkain sa Pagudpud, Burgos at Paoay. So, it’s becoming more and more important to professionalize, to regulate and to anticipate these activities,” Ms. Marcos said owing to the long holiday break and the recent declaration of Vigan City in neighboring Ilocos Sur province as one of the reasons why tourists prefer to visit this northern part of Luzon.

This year, Ms. Marcos is urging the different local government units here including various tourism stakeholders to come out with a unified plan and better planning to anticipate tourism influx which is moving fast at a quick rate.

Due to a number of crowd-drawing events and festivities organized by local government units including a two-hour travel time reduction from Manila to Laoag due to the opening of the new section of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) which opened to motorists during the Christmas holidays and in time for Pope Francis’ visit, the governor underscored that Ilocos Norte must be ready especially in terms of tourism accommodation management.

“Lots of good news but also we must institute better planning,” Ms. Marcos said.

Comments

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become...

Free dormitories eyed for Nueva Era students in LC, Batac

Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Nueva Era , Ilocos Norte—The municipal government here, headed by Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida is planning to establish dormitories in the cities of Laoag and Batac that will exclusively cater to college students from the said cities. “Sapay la kuma ta maituloyen iti mabiit tay ar-arapaapen tayo ken iti munisipyo a maipatakderan kuma dagiti annak tayo a college students nga agbasbasa idiay siyudad iti Batac ken Laoag iti libre a dormitoryo a bukod da ngem inggana nga awan pay ket an-anusan mi paylaeng nga ibaklay kenni apo bise mayor iti pagbayad da iti kasera aggapu iti bukod mi a suweldo malaksid dagitay it-ited iti munisipyo ken iti barangay nga stipend da kada semester, ” Garvida said. Garvida added that the proposed establishment of dormitories would be a big help to the students’ parents as this would shoulder the expenses of their children for rent and likewise they would feel...

P29 per kilo rice sold to vulnerable groups in Ilocos region

BBM RICE. Residents buy rice for only PHP29 per kilo at the NIA compound in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. The activity was under a nationwide pilot program of the government to sell quality and affordable rice initially to the vulnerable sectors. (Lei Adriano) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte —Senior citizens, persons with disability, and solo parents availed of cheap rice sold at PHP29 per kilogram during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) Rice held at the National Irrigation Administration compound in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. “ Maraming salamat Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa inyong pagmamahal sa Region 1 lalong-lalo na sa bayan namin sa San Nicolas,” said Violeta Pasion, a resident Brgy. 18 Bingao in this town. The low-priced grains were sourced from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) contract farming with irrigators' association members in the province. Along with Pasion, Epi...

The Ilocos Times

Search This Blog