MANKAYAN, Benguet – The municipal government is now looking for potential investors for the put up of sufficient accommodation establishments to cater to the projected increase in the demand for lodging, aside from encouraging residents to offer home stay services, following the recent soft launching of paragliding as come-on for tourists.
Mayor Frenzel A. Ayong reported that the municipality lacks the sufficient number of accommodation establishments for the lodging requirements visitors who may come for the paragliding and paramotor activities, apart from visiting the various tourist destinations that are being readied in time for the easing up on the prevailing community quarantine guidelines.
He added that potential investors could put up their accommodation establishments either within suitable areas in the municipality or in nearby Buguias town because there is a growing need for lodging facilities for visitors going in and out of the province and wanting to stay over for some nights in the locality to experience the way of life in the said areas.
The municipal chief executive claimed the presence of more accommodation establishments inside and outside the municipality will definitely provide additional employment opportunities for the heavily impacted sectors and increase opportunity for greater economic activities and sources of livelihood thus gradually reviving the economy.
According to him, it is also important for residents to offer home stay services for the visitors so that they will have a choice on whether to patronize the accommodation establishments or stay with the people in the community for them to be immersed with the customs and traditions of the Cordillerans.
Earlier, the municipal government encouraged interested residents to offer home stay services for visitors wanting to spend a vacation in the municipality as part of their efforts to earn additional income while tending to their farms and other economic activities.
Last week, paragliding enthusiasts from the different parts of Northern Luzon spearheaded the successful soft launching of this extreme sport to serve as one of the town’s major tourist attraction.
Paragliding experts from the Bagabag-based Northside Paragliding Association stipulated there is a big possibility that Mankayan will become the new paragliding and paramotor haven in the north with the present state of the recreational sport.
Mankayan is both an agriculture and mining town where its 6 upper barangays producing agricultural crops while the 6 lower barangays are mining areas hosting both small and large-scale mining operations.
Moreover, the municipality is also one of the five first class municipalities in Benguet and one of the three first class towns that rely on mining as the major source of its resources primarily because of the operation of large-scale mining companies. By HENT