Sagada to consult folks if tourism opens or not

SAGADA- Whether or not Sagada will  reopen its tourism industry now  rests on  what tourism stakeholders shall say municipal executive assistant Dako Bagano said following the assessment done on the two day dry -run conducted by the municipal local govt unit and the Department of Tourism  (DOT)  Aug 26-27.  From left: Regional Director Jovi  Ganongan of the Dept of Tourism, Sanggguniang Bayan Tourism Committee Chairman Dave Gulian, Municipal Health Officer Jeovy Rose Aborque, Executive Assistant Dako Bagano and Municipal Tourism Officer Maritess Matulay

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA Mountain Province -- Whether this popular town  shall open tourism or not now rests on what stakeholders shall say following assessment of a 2-day dry-run to review mechanisms on the tourism industry here Aug 26-27.
    Attended by 30 guests from Cordillera provinces invited by the municipal tourism office here and Dept. of Tourism, the assessment covered protocols on tourism namely online registration, entry points, accommodation and site tours.
    Entry points are the most critical, Catherine de la Rosa of Baguio-based Noants Travel and Tours said.
     There are two check points at Pegeo and Payageo aside from a tourist information center located near the Petron gas station along the Dantay- Sagada national road.
    Local folks said new faces have been seen in town the recent days even if tourism was still closed so it does matter whoever comes to town to have their documents checked at the entry points.
    This tourist town requires a vaccination card showing full inoculation, a negative RTCPR test and printed registration details before a visitor enters Sagada.
    With full compliance to requirements, a guest control number is issued at the Pegeo tourist assistance hub.
    Registration details are filled up online to include the name of the guest and the inn or homestay one is booked in.  But there are some loopholes here as noted by some of the invited guests. One guest complained another name popped up and not her name after she registered.
    Dako Bagano, executive assistant to the mayor said the online registration system shall be reviewed and improved.
    Following compliance to protocols, the guest shall undergo orientation by municipal tourism officers and staff, an ID issued and tour guide provided.  
    Tour guides, drivers; restaurant owners, souvenir shopkeepers, and inn keepers are required to present their business permits, certificate of compliance to health protocols and cards showing completed vaccination of owners and crew.  
    A question on non-accredited accommodations was an issue. 
    There are only 10 accommodations accredited by the DOT out of 172 inns and homestays in town as noted by the municipal tourism office here.  
    Local folks said they were wondering it only the 10 accredited inns are allowed to accept visitors.
Bagano in a separate press conference said tourists book in accredited accommodations as their registered names and the inn where they are booked in are the ones provided at the entry points.
    DOT regional director Jovi Ganongan said keeping up to standards and accreditation is what DOT does following compliance to business permits and an enrolled insurance of guest and the inn followed by an inspection of the accommodation.
    Ganongan looks forward to a “new Sagada” once tourism opens again.
Tourism is the main source of livelihood here with a number of the tourism stakeholders having gone to farming and construction work when the town closed tourism due to the Covid pandemic.
    Few engaged in diversified business like opening grocery stores and starting food-processing enterprises.
Some joined government.  
    Municipal tourism officer Maritess Matulay looks forward to the insurance program of Sagada-based Treasure Link Cooperative Society where innkeepers may avail of to get accredited.
    On souvenir shops, only three stores were accredited out of a number lined up along the street.
   Municipal committee chairman Dave Gulian of the Sangguniang Bayan and SB secretary Ireneus Tauli said necessary   legislation shall be done following points raised during the assessment.   
    Meantime, Sagada has only some 2,000 persons who were vaccinated out of a 12,300 population.
Geraldine Alangui, medical technologist of the municipal health said there are 3,000 Sinovac doses that arrived, and these prioritized for tourism frontliners, she added.
    Some 14,000 doses of anti-Covid vaccines are still needed to vaccinate the remaining eligible persons on first and second doses.
    Only 23% of the 70- 80 percent threshold to reach herd immunity of the 12,300 population was vaccinated.
    Asked if Sagada is already safe when it has reached herd immunity, municipal health officer Dr Jeovy Rose Aborque said there will still be infections.
    Neighboring provinces and regions have noted rising Covid cases including the delta variant.