- PTO says a 208% increase if compared to the 2015’s 200-K plus
PROV’L CAPITOL, Laoag City, April 30–Ilocos Norte has continued to prove that the province is a top tourist destination in the North based on the number of foreign and local tourists arrivals here during the Holy Week annual vacation since 2015 to date.
The Provincial Tourism Office documented at least 483,778 visitors who came to the province during the recent Holy week long vacation posting a 6% increase compared to the same period of last year.
The PTO noted a 208% increase when compared to the figures in 2015 when a total of 232,678 tourists flocked to Ilocos Norte during the sacred long weekend.
According to Provincial Tourism Officer Aianree Raquel, the highest tourist attraction this year was posted in the Bangui power Windmills farm.
It was followed by the UNESCO world heritage site at the famous centuries-old Paoay Church, Blue Lagoon Resort in Pagudpud, Kapurpurawan Rock Formation in Burgos, and Suba Sand Dunes in Paoay.
It was based on the report by the different Local Government Units (LGUs) and the designated local tourism ambassadors-like deployed in various tourist sites.
As a worth-mentioning attraction, the Suba Sand Dunes posted a 291% increase of visitors, from over 6,000 in 2018 to 25,000 this year.
Its desert-like rolling hills view is one of its kind in the Philippines known as the home of the famed ecotourism adventure and sand sports challenge in Ilocos.
Raquel also added that the tourists never missed visiting the new Sunflower Farm in Piddig, Madongan Dam in Dingras, the ala-Baguio weather Solsona-Apayao Road, the Bikeline at Zipline in Vintar and the virgin forest of upland Adams town.
Contributing factors, among others, to the latest big volume of tourists arrivals in the province include the Tourism Ambassador Program created by Governor Imee R. Marcos, and the well-maintained peace and order condition beneficial for the safety of tourists which resulted in no untoward incidents and zero casualties during the recent Holy Week vacation, the PTO shared. -(Stewart C. Ocampo, PGIN-CMO)
