Craving sweet lanzones? Camiguin reopens to leisure travel on Oct. 25
Lovers of beaches, waterfalls, cultural sites, natural springs, hiking, and sweet, sweet lanzones—rejoice! The island province of Camiguin is reopening to leisure travel on Oct. 25.
Camiguin is home to several important cultural treasures (declared so by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts) including the Old Mambajao Fountain in the town’s rotonda, the Santo Rosario Church in Sagay, and 14 heritage and ancestral houses.
Camiguin also has the ASEAN Heritage Park Mt. Timpoong-Hibok-Hibok mountain range, unspoiled white island beaches such as in Mantigue Island , pristine dive spots, natural hot and cold springs, and the annual celebration for the harvest of the island's famous sweet lanzones.
The Department of Tourism (DOT), along with the local government unit (LGU) of Camiguin, has vaccinated its tourism workers to further boost arrivals in the province.
Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat visited Camiguin during the vaccination of tourism workers on Oct. 18. "With a healthy and 100 percent protected workforce, we are optimistic that we can provide greater focus on the task of recovery, and bring the fun back to tourism in Camiguin," she said.
According to Puyat, tourism workers from A1 classification across Region 10 are already fully vaccinated. Including those from the A4 category, the province of Camiguin has administered vaccines to a total of 3,071 tourism workers or 67% of its identified 4,591 active workers from the said segment.
Among the 3,071 workers vaccinated in Camiguin are 745 employed in hotels and resorts, 446 in restaurants and bakeshops, 39 in dive shops, 42 in souvenir shops and vendors, 36 pump boat operators and boatmen, 727 in transport groups, 47 in salons, 132 in government frontline service, 28 tour guides, 829 workers in supermarkets and financial establishments.
The DOT and provincial government are targeting to vaccinate the remaining 1,543 to achieve 100% inoculation rate for tourism workers in the province by the end of October.
Camiguin has one of the COVID-19 cases the lowest in Region 10. "I congratulate everyone in Camiguin for doing their best to keep the pandemic under control, and vaccination programs, such as this one, aim to further reduce the number, as well as the severity of cases," Puyat stressed.
Camuguin also issued three accommodation facilities the Philippine Safety Seal, which provides guests and customers the assurance of the establishment's compliance to minimum health standards.
"I am hopeful that many more of Camiguin's resorts will earn and proudly display this standard of global excellence very soon," Puyat said.
Through the DOT Region 10 Office, various initiatives were implemented to support tourism in Camiguin including the production of promotional and safety materials, the Tourism in the New Normal Series highlighting Camiguin's accredited tourism establishments, the Travelogue Series promoting the beautiful spots of Camiguin, and the Mindanao Tourism Circuit development to promote intraregional and interregional travel in Mindanao.
