LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government will be conducting a dry run in the opening of its limited tourist spots to residents only to assess the town’s readiness for the easing up of the local tourism industry as part of the efforts to revive the economy in the municipality.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda admitted the municipal government is not yet ready to open the local tourism industry to visitors from other places but it will soon open its tourist spots for the residents from the different barangays as part of the gradual easing up of the local tourism industry towards the revival of the economy in the coming weeks.
“We are not yet ready to open our municipality for visitors from other places. We have to make sure that we are ready to do so before we will make the appropriate announcement that we are ready to welcome the influx of visitors,” Mayor Salda stressed.
Initially, the municipal government plans to open Abong ni Romy in Wangal, Mount Costa and Mount Kallogong as the tourist spots that can be visited by residents starting this weekend but under strict monitoring of concerned municipal government personnel for the observance of the mandatory wearing of face masks and physical distancing in public places.
According to him, the upcoming dry run will be assessed by concerned offices of the local government on the present situation of the tourist destinations and their readiness to accommodate the influx of individuals wanting to visit the town’s scenic destinations.
He emphasized that the municipal government does not want the existing health care system to be overwhelmed by any surge in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases once there will be easing of the local tourism industry for visitors from areas outside the Cordillera.
He claimed that other tourist destinations in the municipality, such as the strawberry farm, the cutflower gardens, among others, are not yet ready to welcome visitors thus the sites that will be opened to residents only are those that have signified their active participation to the dry run in the opening of the industry for their constituents.
Mayor Salda stated that for any outcome of the dry run, concerned offices will craft the prescribed guidelines to be strictly implemented when the municipality decides to open the local tourism industry.
He admitted that a considerable number of tourism-related businesses have been heavily impacted by the implementation of the community quarantine over the past six months thus efforts are being done to extend needed support for the said businesses to be able to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
He appealed to owners of heavily impacted business establishments to be patient in awaiting for the guidelines to be finalized by the municipal inter-ag-agency task force for the management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases to pave the way for the cautious, safe and gradual resumption of their operations so that the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 will be abated
La Trinidad has been frequented by visitors from different parts of the country because of the famous strawberry fruit and cutflowers that are grown in the municipality aside from the assorted vegetables. By HENT