BAGUIO CITY, Nov. 7 (PNA) — The tourism industry in the Baguio-La Trinidad–Itogon–Sablan–Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) area must be improved in order to reap larger gains in the face of globalization but must also venture in to other profitable business.
Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, in an interview today, November 7, said this was the subject of his speech in the BLISTT tourism summit at the Baguio Country Club (BCC), organized by the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB) headed by hotelier Anthony de Leon and businessman-lawyer Moises Cating.
He said the Benguet municipalities should be competitive in terms of products and services.
Domogan cited the highly competitive imported, cheaper and better-looking agricultural products which are flooding the local market and adjoining areas.
With globalization, there is a need to concentrate on products’ advantages such as taste and nutritive value, the mayor said.
Domogan added that there should be a concerted effort to enhance tourism in the BLISTT which include infrastructure like the road networks and the peace and order situation.
There should be the outer circumferential road to serve the BLISTT and adjoining areas, leading to tourist spots which may also be supplemented by an inner circumferential road in Baguio City.
A BLISTT resolution should address such need, the mayor said.
Domogan also acknowledged better traveling conditions with the Tarlac-Pangasina La Union Express (TPLEX).
Domogan said he is proposing the publication of a travel brochure to feature BLISTT tourism; Baguio’s tourist spots, with La Trinidad strawberry farms and rock climbing places, Itogon and Sablan’s mountain trekking and quaint places, exquisite food products; and Tuba and Tublay’s natural caves and unexplored areas.
A year-round calendar of BLISTT activities and local festivals should be included in the brochure for tourists’ information.
Domogan assures that with these in place, the tourism aspect of the ASEAN Integration will improve not only for Baguio but the BLISTT area as a whole. (PNA)