LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government recently reported that there has been a significant increase in tourist arrivals in the municipality during the first quarter of the year that has greatly contributed in allowing the heavily impacted economy to recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past three years.
Councilor Belmer Elis, chairperson of the municipal council committee on tourism, said that the municipality was able to record more than 300,000 tourist arrivals for the first quarter of this year which is higher compared to the tourist arrivals for the same period last year.
He added that last year, La Trinidad was able to entice some 700,000 tourist arrivals that contributed in a purring local economic activities and paving the way for the gradual recovery of the local tourism industry.
For this year, Councilor Elis claimed that the local government is targeting more than 750,000 tourist arrivals to boost the ongoing efforts to allow the town’s tourism industry to regain its vibrance that will be beneficial to the concerned stakeholders.
According to him, local tourism destinations such as ecotourism sites, agro-tourism farms and other outdoor recreation areas that have thrived in the municipality are ready to accommodate the expected influx of visitors in the coming months that will surely contribute in the realization of the aforesaid goal of increasing the tourist arrivals and providing visitors with one of a kind experience while in the municipality.
He admitted that one of the frequented tourist destinations in the municipality is the strawberry farm that is why the local government in close coordination with the State-run Benguet State University (BSU) is doing its best to sustain the growth of the strawberry industry to retain the town’s identity as the Strawberry Capital of the Philippines.
Councilor Elis encouraged foreign and domestic tourists to expand their horizon by trying to visit existing tourist destinations outside Baguio City for them to discover that there are equally similar tourist spots that are worthy of visiting which need to be discovered.
Not only in the capital town but also in other scenic must-see areas in the different parts of the province.
La Trinidad has some 1,120 strawberry farmers that plant strawberries in some 39 hectares of plantation sites distributed in the different parts of the municipality where most of the plantation areas are situated within the BSU landholdings.
He stipulated that the local government continues to expand assistance to the strawberry farmers for them to be able to sustain the available supply of strawberries which is one of the most in demand products patronized by foreign and domestic visitors frequenting the locality.
La Trinidad also hosts the famous Bahong cut flower farm which is one of the most frequented places in the municipality aside from the available trekking sites and hiking trails that boost its identity as a mountain resort destination.
Further, the municipality is one of the economic centers of the Cordillera being the premier trading center of highland vegetables being brought to the lowland communities and sold in various markets around the country. By Dexter A. See
