SAGADA, Mountain Province – The municipal government disclosed that the daily tourist arrivals in this mystical town is still manageable which is helping in the gradual and safe revival of the industry and the local economy which had been heavily impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Mayor James Pooten stated that since the municipal government started allowing the entry of tourists in the municipality, there had been s significant improvement in the economic activities of the people, especially by the tourism-related establishments as they are getting a fair share from the visitors that are booking their visit to the locality through the established online registration platform.
Mayor Pooten admitted that the daily tourist arrivals in the municipality reached its peak during the Good Friday where there were some 1,900 documented visitors to the town.
Earlier, the municipal inter-agency task force for the management of emerging infectious diseases pegged the limit of daily tourist arrivals at 3,200 following the downgrading of the province’s alert level over the past several months which enticed nature lovers to make it a point to have their much-awaited trip to Sagada.
According to him, tourism and other related businesses serve as the town’s major economic driver that is why the municipal government, in coordination with concerned government agencies, worked hard to equip local tourism industry stakeholders to be resilient in coping up with the challenges of the transition to the better normal after the pandemic shall have been contained.
Pooten expressed his gratitude to the municipal tourism industry stakeholders for bearing the heavy impact of the pandemic and remaining to be confident on the bright prospects for recovery that is now being gradually realized with the easing up of the prevailing community quarantine restrictions that will pave the way for the movement of people.
He stipulated that numerous visitors are eager to visit the various tourist destinations in the municipality and witness the changes over the past 2 years of the pandemic.
Sagada is one of the most frequented places in the Cordillera because of its numerous natural sceneries where nature lovers want to spend their well-deserved.
The municipal chief executive admitted that the daily tourist arrivals had not been exceeding 1,000 that is why the municipal government remains optimistic that the local tourism industry will regain its vibrance within the next several months to allow the stakeholders to recover from the heavy impact of the pandemic.
Sagada could be reached through direct bus trips from the National Capital Region (NCR) and Baguio City or through hired vehicles from various places in the country.
