By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, (PNA) — The booth belonging to the Bicol cluster primary tourism area created between the provinces of Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon obtained the People’s Choice Award (provincial category) during the last day of the Philippine Travel Mart 2013 on Sunday.
Before the awarding ceremony held at the closing of the travel mart, the Regional Development Council (RDC) of Region V also launched “Soul of the South”, a coffee table book featuring the best places in the alliance of ALMASOR.
RDC Chairman and Albay Governor, Joey Salceda, now on his third term, said that the coffee table book is a “virtual tour” as it is aimed to guide the visitors into the natural resources, the heritage areas and the best trade centers.
“It is our fervent hope that our words and images may entice the reader to come to Almasor and have real fun in the best that our people and places and cultural heritage could offer,” Salceda said in his speech.
“The people are warm and beautiful. The land and the seas and the landscapes tell their own thrilling stories. May this book serve as a portal into our magical world, which we now call Almasor,” he further said.
“Let your eyes feast on the beautiful photographs in the pages of this book. And if eyes were not enough, then may the text bring to your imagination images that are beyond the sight of lenses,” he added.
The title of the book, Soul of the South, Salcedo said, is derived from the sister provinces as they once belonged to the territorial boundaries of Albay before and during the Spanish colonization period.