Cagayan Province Offers More Activities to Boost Local Tourism

To enhance tourism activities in the province, the Provincial Tourism Office of Cagayan Province has increased its tourism budget from one million last year to six million this year.

Tourism Officer Jennifer Junio-Baquiran said with the increase in budget for the year, more activities have been lined up and will be realized for the calendar year.

The council will still continue its “Week-end Leave No-Trace Camps” to areas where there are caves, which aims to educate students' on a set of outdoor ethics and principles designed to promote conservation in the outdoors.

It will also intensify the production of promotional materials and construction of the Cagayan Tourism Interactive Website as well as lectures on Awareness and Appreciation of Cagayan Tourism.

The council, according to Baquiran, will promote the municipality of Baggao with its Cave Tour Package to start this month as well as the coastal town of Sta. Teresita to be the venue for the 2nd National Eco-tourism Convention.

The said town is being eyed by the Department of Tourism Region 02 to be the Vannamei Capital of the North due to the many hectares of aqua farms here which produce tons of species of shrimps.

The council is also looking forward to the 1st Cagayan National Beach Volleyball Competition, the formulation of the Cagayan Tourism Master Plan as well as the conduct of Enhancement Training and Seminar for Tourism Officers.

The first batch of Media Familiarization Tours of Cagayan are also scheduled in February this year for local and national media to witness and appreciate the tourist destinations in Cagayan and will later promote it in their own media outlets.

During the celebration of the Aggao NAc Cagayan in June, the council is now eyeing to conduct the 1st Cagayan North Tourism Festival to showcase the street dancing prowess of the different provinces in the region. ( Gene V. Baquiran-PIA2)