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Saturday, March 11, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 147
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Amid loosened Covid curbs, eastern Manila areas clock an uptick in tourist, guest arrivals
TANAY’S TOURISM CHARM BECKONS
THE view from the Martessem Mountain Resort in Tanay, Rizal NICO AQUINO | DREAMSTIME.COM
T
By John Eiron R. Francisco*
of local tourism, reinforcing service standards and consistent generation of tourism information and data.” According to Gapido, the municipality is known for its “breathtaking” hiking trails. She said many recognize Tanay as the “Home of Adventure and Nature Experience,” especially with its flagship Daranak Falls. Gapido admitted the lockdowns slashed the number of hikers. Nonetheless, with the popularity of “glamping”—a more luxurious type of camping compared to traditional stay in outdoor tents—the number of campgrounds and related businesses progressively rose. She believes “the pandemic caused a great deal of stress for many individuals who needed to unwind by spending time in nature.”
ANAY, Rizal—Local government officials here remain optimistic the rebound of tourism in this destination east of Manila continues steadily after a hiccup due to Covid-19.
While some visitors and tourists, mostly Filipinos, consider Tanay as “the next Tagaytay,” officials like Tanay Planning and Development Officer Jefferey M. Pino want to avoid such comparison. “We have our own identity, we are Tanay,” Pino told the BusinessMirror. And that self-image is shown in the numbers provided by the Tanay Tourism Office (TTO): last year saw the number of visitors to local tourist attractions—the Daranak Falls, for one—hitting roughly 4.81 million. This was an increase of about three million from the number of tourist arrivals of nearly 1.54 million in 2021. The rise in the number was posted after the government issued travel guidelines, TTO and Public Information Officer Joicee Jules B. Gapido told the BusinessMirror. “Naapektuhan ang tourism pero somehow doon nagsulputan ang gastronomic tourism, along different parts of Tanay [Tourism was affected but gastronomic tourism started to develop along different parts of Tanay],” Gapido said. “Tourism is bouncing back, ngayong taong 2023 maganda ang pasok ng [there’s a promising trend in] arrivals ng tourism,” she added.
about 1.24 million as government imposed lockdown measures in March of 2020 to stem the spread of Covid-19. But things appear to be looking up as the TTO recorded arrivals reaching 387,802 in January this year. The number of visitors staying a night in this first-class municipality also dropped to 138,416 in 2020 from about 1.015 million in 2019. The number of guests staying overnight in 2021 inched up to 160,941 and even tripled to 349,969 last year. A total of 33,670 travelers have already spent the night in Tanay last January, TTO data showed. This steady increase prompted the Department of Tourism (DOT) Calabarzon office to recognize Tanay for having the third-most number of overnight stay arrivals in 2021 and second highest in the region for the most number of same-day arrivals also that year. The DOT-Calabarzon also noted Tanay’s “relentless commitment to the enhancement and development
Contribution to economy
GAPIDO emphasized that tourism is important to Tanay as the DARANAK Falls in Tanay, Rizal WALTER ERIC SY | DREAMSTIME.COM
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Overnight stay, camping
TTO data showed that the number of tourists hit a peak of about 5.13 million in 2019. This plunged to
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.2380 n JAPAN 0.4057 n UK 65.8824 n HK 7.0372 n CHINA 7.9331 n SINGAPORE 40.8263 n AUSTRALIA 36.4018 n EU 58.4529 n KOREA 0.0416 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.7145 Source: BSP (March 10, 2023)