Mountain Province promotes tourist spots

BONTOC, Mountain Province – The provincial government here recently embarked on an aggressive campaign to promote Mountain Province as ecotourist destination in the Cordillera to boost economic development in the countryside.

Gov. Leonard Mayaen said most national roads leading to the far flung communities as well as linking Mountain Province with nearby provinces which are vital tourist destinations has greatly improved, thus, the influx of foreign and domestic tourists is inevitable in the coming days.

To attract tourists, Mayaen said an aggressive campaign is a beautiful ecotourism destination because of the preserved and protected grandeur of most places.

Among the famous tourist spots in the province include Sagada caves and the hanging coffins, Mainit hot springs, Maligcong man-made stairway-like rice terraces, the Mount Amuyao ecopark which is suitable for mountain climbing, the Natonin view deck and the clear waters of the Chico river.

Mountain Province also where Mount Data plateau is located which has almost zero degrees Celsius temperature during the months of November to March.

Mayaen said one of the biggest contributors to the economic development in the province is tourism, thus, the need to strongly promote tourist spots.

From the usual six-hour travel from Baguio City to Sagada town, the same was reduced to at least four hours because of rehabilitation of Halsema highway, the major road to different parts of the Cordillera.

On the other hand, the usual two-hour drive from Bontoc to Banaue was also reduced to just one hour following the completion of the Halsema rehabilitation project amidst road-right-of-way problems.

Travel from Bontoc to Tabuk and vice versa was also reduced from the usual seven hours to a little over four hours after most parts of the over 200-kilometer Bontoc-Tabuk-Tuguegarao road was completed while awaiting completion of other major road sections that are being delayed because of existing road-right-of-way problems.