Aurora gets P1 billion allocation for concreting of roads in tourist spots

BALER, Aurora, March 21, 2013-At least P1 billion has been allocated by the national government for concreting of access roads leading to known tourist spots in the province, which could further spark tourist arrivals in this emerging tourism mecca.

          Michael Palispis, provincial tourism officer, said of this amount, P500 million will be used for the construction of a new by-pass road in Barangay Canili, Ma. Aurora town.

          Palispis said the bypass road project has already been bid out last October and will start construction soon.

          Another P416 million will be used for the concreting of the 21-kilometer Casiguran-Dilasag Road.

          Palispis said the funds for the twin projects will be sourced from the road convergence program of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Tourism codenamed TRIP or tourism road infrastructure projects. He said P230 million was allocated last year.

          He said these roads will open tourist spots, particularly in northern Aurora such as the CasapsapanBeach in Casiguran, the DibutunanFalls in Dipaculao and the BulawanFalls in Dinalungan.

          “We are already one of the provinces which posted the highest number of tourist arrivals because of the improved road network. We expect this to improve even further with these additional roads,” he said.      

          Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said the government is spending close to P12 billion this 2013 for infrastructure projects that would link roads to top tourist destinations and address the growing demand of domestic and foreign tourists.

          He said that as the country is gearing towards attracting 10 million foreign tourists and 56 million domestic tourists by 2016, the government should ensure that roads, ports and airports leading to major tourist destinations are reached with ease by travelers.

          State funding for tourist roads has almost doubled this year from P7.92 billion last year and P1.39 billion in 2011.

The tourism industry in this province, already on a steady growth path since eight years ago, posted another banner year in 2012 with a 74 percent growth in tourist arrivals over that of 2011.

          The number of tourists in the province reached 215,098 in 2012, up from last year’s 123,043, representing a 74% increase. Of the 215,098, some 119,308 stayed in the houses of relatives and homestay lodging facilities while 95,790 stayed in accredited hotels, inns and resorts.

          The tourism industry has come a long way since 2005 when only 8,744 tourists were recorded, representing a whopping 2,351 percent increase over the eight-year period.

Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo has made tourism a part of her development agenda for the province, particularly the improvement of access roads in known tourist spots.

          Ana Riza Mendoza, provincial tourism operations officer, said back in 2005, it was very hard to get to Aurora from other places. But now, traveling in Aurora is a breeze,” she stressed. (Manny Galvez)