MANKAYAN, Benguet – The tourism potentials of the mineral-rich town got a big boost following the recent visit of paragliding experts in the country to assess the possibility of the conduct of the various paragliding activities in the future.
Mayor Frenzel A. Ayong said that Aristotle Mendoza, chairman of the Northside Paragliding Philippines based in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya, and his wife initially assessed the prevailing situation in the proposed paragliding sites in the municipality and that they were impressed on what they have seen that made the conclude that paragliding in the town will be viable.
He added that the Mendoza couple also shared their insights in possible tourism-related activities that could be conducted in the municipality that will surely help enhance the town’s tourism potentials and contribute in the ongoing efforts to recover from the present health pandemic.
“We have to continue working out possible partnerships with various experts in different fields so that we will be able to speed up our recovery from the prevailing crisis caused by the health pandemic. We have to be bullish in maximizing the tourism potentials of the municipality that is why we continue to partner with industry experts for them to share their insights on where to start and move forward,” Mayor Ayong stressed.
Earlier, the local chief executive invited the Mendoza couple to assess the potentials of paragliding and other tourism-related activities in the municipality that will help in enticing foreign and domestic paragliding enthusiasts to visit the municipality once restrictions on the movement of people will be relaxed in the future.
He pointed out that the municipality will work on the put up of sufficient accommodation facilities in partnership with the private sector so that tourists who will be visiting the municipality who want to spend several days to be able to visit other destinations within the locality will be able to do so and help in allowing the local economy to recover from the slump due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
According to him, paragliding and other tourism-related activities re just part of the local government’s overall plan to make the municipality a viable destination for people wanting to visit new attractions and destinations after being locked down in their homes for nearly eight months and after the government shall have lifted the prevailing community quarantine in various parts of the country.
He claimed that the improvement of the town’s tourist potentials will be done in partnership with experts and concerned stakeholders so that whatever issues and concerns that will be raised will be appropriately addressed because what is important is for people to have gainful employment and sources of livelihood that will help them in uplifting the living condition of their families.
The infusion of tourism in the town’s existing mining and agriculture industry is seen as a significant gain in providing people with varied opportunities to earn income and help in spurring the economy that had been heavily impacted by the prevailing health pandemic. By HENT