TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The city government will be embarking on an aggressive promotion of the city’s key tourist destinations to entice more foreign and domestic visitors to consider the component city as one of their must-see destinations when going around the country.
Mayor Darwin C. Estran֮ero committed he will personally work with other local chief executives in the neighboring provinces and towns in Isabela, Cagayan, Apayao and Mountain Province for the establishment of a tour circuit that will include all the key tourist destinations in these geographic areas for visitors at very affordable packages to keep people moving around.
He admitted that the promotion of the local tourism industry had not been prioritized in the past and the City Tourism Office was tasked to formulate a comprehensive tourism master plan to guarantee the aggressive promotion of the city’s various tourist destination to attract people to make Tabuk and Kalinga one of their preferred destinations in the north.
The city chief executive claimed for the economy, especially tourism, to gradually and safely revive from the pandemic, appropriate inclusive tourism circuits must be devised that will include neighboring towns in the Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera with affordable tour packages.
According to him, tourism is one of the sectors that can easily recover from the pandemic because people are eager to move around and this contributes in creating jobs for the displaced workers and bring back the vibrance of economic activities and livelihoods.
Tabuk is the center of the province’s whitewater rafting that can be promoted along the different upland and lowland municipalities traversed by the mighty Chico river, the longest river system in the Cordillera.
Aside from whitewater rafting, the city also is rich in various scenic tourist destinations that are worthy of visiting by foreign and domestic visitors who love nature, culture and the arts.
Mayor Estran֮ero stipulated the city government is closely working with concerned government agencies and the private sector to bring back the vibrance of the industry.
He emphasized the importance of collaboration among stakeholders inside and outside the province by applying good practices of other local governments that can help in aggressively promoting the growth of the industry to generate jobs and improve the overall economy.
The Cordillera, including Tabuk City, is one of the premier ecotourism destinations in the country with various natural and human-developed scenic destinations in the ancestral domains developed and preserved through the inherent lifeways of the indigenous peoples.
The mayor expressed hope that the local tourism industry can immediately recover amidst the threats of the various variants of the deadly virus so that a good number of displaced workers can regain their jobs and for other people to re-establish their economic activities.
