By Leilanie G. Adriano & Bernard B. Ver
Laoag City—The Ilocos Norte Tourism Office said the province welcomed an estimated 483,778 domestic and foreign day visitors during the Holy Week.
The INTO figures represent a 5.3% increase in tourist arrivals compared to the same period last year.
A Few weeks before the Holy Week, tourism stakeholders in various parts of the province has already beef up their supply for the expected influx of tourists.
Report from the Ilocos Norte Tourism Office (INTO) showed a total of 483,778 visitors. These were monitored by tourist aides assigned in more than 42 tourism destinations of Ilocos Norte.
“Our tourist arrivals for the Holy Week is another blockbuster considering other new destinations that we promoted this year,” said provincial tourism officer Aian Raquel referring to the sunflower farm in Piddig and the newly-inaugurated Siwawer Eco-Tourism Nature Park in Vintar which features extreme sports adventure and the first bike zipline in Ilocos region.
Major hotels, homestays and other accommodation facilities also reported they were all fully-booked during Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, or an average of 72 percent accommodation for this summer season.
According to INTO, this tourism peak is expected to carry on until June and July.
Like in previous years, the giant windmills located at the Bangui Bay topped the highest number of visitors during the Holy Week season, followed by the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saint Augustine Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte. The blue lagoon in Pagudpud, Kapurpurawan Rocks Formation in Burgos and the sand dunes of Suba, Paoay were also included in the Top 5 most visited attraction in Ilocos Norte.
Visitors at the Marcos Presidential Center and museum which consistently received a high number of arrivals in previous years had significantly declined since the remains of the late Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Ilocos Norte’s steady peak of tourist arrivals only shows that we are doing well in promotions, said Mr. Raquel as he underscored some local government units in the province are also aggressive in improving their respective municipalities to attract more tourists in the area.
He also added that the new school calendar will also add to “the total number of visitors will continuously rise in the incoming days as the vacation for schools is extended based on the new school calendars”.