SAN JOSE, Antique – The Department of Tourism-Region 6 (DOT-6) encouraged tourists and locals to experience the attraction sites of this province.
During the Northern Antique River Festival, DOT-6 legal officer Sedfrey Cabaluna said the province has natural attractions like rivers that could be a site for several unique activities for locals and international tourists alike.
“We should value and preserve our natural attractions like the river,” Cabaluna added.
The first of the two-day festival was held at the Bugang River in Barangay Guia, Pandan, Antique on Oct. 26; while the second day was at the Lagdo and Butong rivers in Tibiao, Antique.
Cabaluna said these waters were sites of the river tubing races. He added that the province also launched its bid of becoming the “native lechon capital of the Philippines.”
Meanwhile, a resort which won the cooking challenge during the festival, prepared dishes such as “chicken pandan” (marinated chicken in pandan leaves), “tamwa-an” or deep-fried grated cassava rolled into two-inch sized balls, and “linanggawan na tambo” or bamboo shoot mixed with other ingredients and vinegar.
Tibiao tourism officer John Paul Fernando on Monday hoped to lure more tourists to their town through the festivity, which was initiated by resort owner Flord Nicson Calawag to promote their town’s tourism industry.
“Our tourist arrival is now increasing,” he said.
He added that in 2015, there were only 12,000 tourists who visited Tibiao; 29,000 in 2016 and 67,000 in 2017.
“Our tourist arrivals, while affected by the Boracay closure, are starting to increase again this 2019,” he said.
He added that from January to October this year, 70,000 tourists visited the municipality.
“We are expecting that by the end of the year we could reach the 100,000 tourist visitors targeted,” he said.
He added although most of the tourists are domestic, there are also Koreans, Russians, and Americans who come to Tibiao after visiting Boracay Island in Aklan.(With a report from PNA/PN)
