SABLAN, Benguet – The municipal government will be setting its sights on the crafting of its comprehensive tourism master plan to contribute in spurring the growth of the local economy.
Mayor Alfredo Dacumos, Jr. said that there are many tourism potentials in the different parts of the municipality that are either owned by private individuals, the provincial and municipal governments that will be able to provide new attractions for tourists wanting to explore other scenic destinations inside and outside the municipality.
“We have to work on our comprehensive tourism master development plan so that we will be able to maximize the potentials of our existing tourist spots such as agri-tourism farms, eco-tourism destinations, waterfalls, rivers, picnic areas among others that will contribute in increasing the economic activities and sources of livelihood of our constituents,” Mayor Dacumos stressed.
He pointed out that there are many small towns in the country that were able to develop because of the efforts of their local governments, concerned government agencies and the private sector to maximize the potentials of their existing assets that allowed them to improve the status of their localities over a certain period of time.
He admitted that the municipal government has to go back to the drawing board and work on the necessary steps that will be undertaken to aggressively promote Sablan’s tourist destinations as must-see tourist spots so that visitors going to Baguio city will be able to consider dropping by the municipality and enjoying the beauty and grandeur of the locality before proceeding to their desired destinations.
According to him, Sablan’s natural beauty will serve as its major asset in enticing tourists to visit the municipality and contribute in generating jobs for the residents and significantly improving the economic activities and sources of livelihood of the people.
Mayor Dacumos asserted that the municipal government has to create opportunities to generate resources from its existing and future tourist spots because tourism is now the way to go for the municipality aside from agriculture that serves as the main source of income of his constituents.
The municipal chief executive is also pinning his hopes on the Metro Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay Development Authority (MBLISTTDA) to include Sablan as newest tourism haven of southwestern Benguet to be able to entice visitors from the lowlands to consider the municipality as one of their must-see destinations when visiting the Cordillera as it is the first area to be passed by when going up to Baguio.
Dacumos explained that tourism will surely help in placing Sablan in the map of the country’s tourism industry because of the presence of natural attractions that will surely entice nature-lovers and other tourists to include in their list of their desired places to visit when their schedule permits.
The mayor plans to elevate the status of Sablan to a higher level with tourism as its major flagship program without compromising other established sources of livelihood of the people in the municipality, particularly agriculture, among others. By Dexter A. See
