BATANGAS CITY – Members of the Batangas Tourism Officers Association (BaTOA) have convened to draw up plans, projects and program for 2018 and reviewed the past year’s activities aiming to breach the six million tourist arrivals that the province ushered in at the close of 2017.
Batangas public information office chief Jenelyn A. Aguilera told PNA on Friday that the meeting held Jan. 24 at the Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO) in the Provincial Capitol here that BaTOA members have drawn up projects and programs to include the yet to be explored and hidden tourism potentials of the province.
“Layon nito na magbalik-tanaw sa mga programa at proyektong natapos noong 2017 at muling makapagplano ng mga bagong aktibidad na maaaring maisakatuparan sa kasalukuyang taon (the meeting’s objective is to review the programs and projects of 2017 and again plan for new activities to be implemented this year),” the PIO stated.
She said that the tourism and cultural affairs office provided the estimated tourists and visitors’ arrival to the province to have reached the six million mark and the completed projects and programs especially with its “Come and Visit RICH Batangas” catchphrase.
She said that the tourism officers attributed last year’s sizeable tourism surge to various destinations and landmarks in Batangas’ 31 towns and three component cities.
The Sto. Tomas town sites of the Malvar Shrine, Padre Pio Church and religious shrine, Sipit Trail and Mt. Malepunyo posted around four million tourists and visitors last year, the association said.
The traditional and popular tourism destinations are the world renowned Taal Volcano, the Taal Lake that surrounds it; Taal Heritage town where 19th-century ancestral houses and structures are found and the numerous beaches and diving spots including Anilao in Mabini, Sombrero Island in Tingloy, Ligpo Island and Sampaguita Beach in Bauan;
Matabungkay in Lian, Punta Fuego and the Pico de Loro beachfront in Nasugbu, Laiya in San Juan and the Calatagan beach and the mountaineering adventure and ascend to the Mt. Maculot in Cuenca.
Aguilera also said that around one million tourists were posted by the various hotels and resorts across the province and Nasugbu alone posted around 200,000 visitors last year.
She said that up in the BaTOA’s drawing board are tourism promotional campaigns and social networking projects to market the non-traditional yet amazing tourist attractions not only in the country but throughout the world. (Saul Pa-a/PNA)
