TUBA, Benguet – Mayor Ignacio Rivera said that the tourism industry of the five Benguet municipalities surrounding the country’s undisputed Summer Capital will be spurred once the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) growth development concept will become a reality.
Rivera ordered the reconstitution of the municipal tourism council to validate existing and dormant tourism destinations and to revisit the town’s overall tourism plan to align it with the BLISTT master plan to generate interests in identified tourist destinations in the municipality.
“We have to improve the status of our tourist destinations and advertise them side by side with the tourist destinations in Baguio so that we will be able to attract tourists to include Tuba in their destination and thus contribute to an improved town economy,”Rivera stressed.
As one of the identified economic drivers of the locality, the Mayor said that tourism must be given attention to guarantee the town’s equal access to promotional activities that will generate interests among visitors.
Among the tourist destinations being planned for assessment and evaluation include the Tukang cave, Bridal falls, the Asin hot springs, Mount Kabuyao, the former La Presa and other potential destinations in the different parts of the municipality.
According to him, it is important for the Tuba tourism destinations to be equally promoted in the BLISTT tourism brochure so that more visitorswill be enticed to visit the surrounding communities of Baguio after spending time in Baguio.
He said that tourism development can improve economic activities in theBLISTT area, with La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay being just near the city where they can accommodate the overflow of visitors coming up to the city, especially during weekends and extended holidays.
Rivera said the municipal government will continue consulting the host communities of the identified tourist destinations so that the appropriate programs and projects could be undertaken to improve the state of the tourist spots in order to attract the influx of more foreign and domestic visitors.
With the expected influx of tourists in the identified tourist spots in the municipality, Rivera expressed confidence that there will be a surge in economic activities that will contribute in the generation of more jobs and greater sources of livelihood for the local residents which will also contribute in increasing the income of the people to help improve the living condition of their respective families.
By HENT