SAGADA, PHILIPPINES – Nearly 17 thousand local tourists or 74 % of the total travelers, came here the last quarter of 2007 to May this year.
Municipal records here revealed that 16,841 Filipino travelers visited this tourist town during the peak months of October last year to May 2008 of the total 22, 871 visitors the past 8 months.
Of the total visitors, 18, 876 tourists or 83% came from Asian countries including the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and China. Among Asian tourists, Filipino visitors were followed by 1,525 Koreans and 162 Japanese.
The rest of the 17% visitors came from the continents of Europe, America, and Australia. Most European travelers come from Germany, Austria, Czeck Republic, France, Italy, Denmark, United Kingdom, Spain, and Switzerland corresponding to at least 13% of the total visitors.
Four African travelers came from Namibia and Ethiopia.
Tourism here is one major source of income especially among the residents of the Poblacion area where local business cater to meals, lodging, sale of souvenir items, and guiding tourists. This, aside from transport and retail of goods.
Sagada is a popular tourist destination peaking its arrivals in the months of October to May. European tourists mostly from Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark along with some Americans had been the initial tourists during Sagada’s early tourism years in the late 1970s to the 80’s. Local tourists took their peak in the ‘90s to the present.
The pine-clad town offers refreshing sites for walks around the vicinity of the town. Its famous caves including Sumaguing Cave are favorite spots for spelunking aside from invigorating rice terraces of Kiltepan in nearby Antadao barangay, and cool Bomod-ok Falls in Bangaan to indulge in a dip after a leisurely one hour hike from the main town.
Former town legislator Jane Bawing estimated that revenues collected from tourists adds to nearly half a million pesos for the whole year. Tourists each pay P10.00 representing environmental fees used to maintain cleanliness and security of the tourist attractions including the caves and the vicinity of the town, aside from other community purposes.
The amount collected from tourists could also accommodate employment of a tourism officer to focus in tourism concerns, Bawing said. She hoped that the municipal government will also raise the environmental fee. Said 10.00 per visiting tourist was then being collected by the Sagada Environmental Guides Association (SEGA) in the early ‘90s. The municipal government assumed collection last year./ginadizon@yahoo.com
3 comments:
Hi,
Nice blog :-) Didn't know na ganun na pala kadami ng turista sa Sagada ngayon.
Interesting stats. So 17% are from Europe, America, Australia. If 13% is from Europe, that leaves Australia and America with just a combined total of 4%. Is America for both North and South? I would have thought that it would be higher than 4%. But then again, Sagada may have a lot of tourists from USA / Canada / Australia who are not in these statistics because they do not register at the municipal hall. (I refer to tourists with Sagada relatives.) I was pleasantly surprised with the huge number of Korean tourists.
Keep on posting. Cheers!
Wow! I know that there are a lot of visitors there, pero hindi ko na-imagine na ganun kadami.
I agree that the environmental fee should be raised from P10. Since 90s pa yun? Dapat lang na itaas. It's worth it naman dahil it's for a good cause.
Last time I went there, there were a lot of Koreans. Actually during my first visit, I met a Korean girl sitting on one of the steps of the basketball court in front of St. Mary's Church. She was writing on her diary. Anyway, I hope dumami pa lalo ang mga visitors.
:)
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