Officials laud plan to make Samar as alternative destination

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar, March 19  -- The city government welcomed the announcement of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to make Samar province one of the alternative tourist destinations in the country due to the planned closure of the world-famous Boracay Island.

Catbalogan City Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said the recent announcement of DOT Undersecretary Kat de Castro will help many Samar families, who suffer from extreme poverty.

“We are happy with the announcement, but this is a big responsibility and we need to be ready, like improving our basic utilities and facilities like ports and airport, water system, and waste disposal,” Uy-Tan said.

The mayor is optimistic that if investors would learn that Samar is already a tourist haven, they would not hesitate to build hotels and other tourism-related businesses in the province.

Samar, with its 24 towns and two cities, is one of the provinces in the country endowed with natural wonders such as picturesque beaches, majestic waterfalls, cave system, and rivers.

“However, a lot of things has to be done before this could happen to ensure the satisfaction of tourist and protection of these natural attractions,” Uy-Tan added.

The mayor recalled that when the city government started promoting Buri Island as an eco-tourism destination, it was already very keen about protecting the environment for the sustainability of the city’s tourist destination.

The promotion of Buri Island as an eco-tourism destination is not only centered on adventure tourism and ecological protection, but also anchored on community development and sustainable eco-tourism principles.

“If the national government decides to divert tourists to Samar, the local government and the community have to prepare for it,” Uy-Tan said.

The operation of Catbalogan airport located on Buri Island will greatly help the tourism promotion campaign of Catbalogan, the capital of Samar province.

Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan-De los Santos also welcomed this announcement from DOT to promote less popular destinations.

“Probably they can consider us as an alternative for a meantime. Boracay is Boracay, and they have been established already. Making us one of the alternatives is good, but we are not praying for the total closure of Boracay because this will displace thousands of workers dependent on the tourism activities (there),” she said.

Rather than marketing the beaches of the province to tourists, the provincial government will exert more effort in promoting caves, waterfalls, and rivers.

“This is to distribute the development since our neighboring provinces in Samar Island have more beautiful white sand and pink beaches,” Tan said. “We don’t want to compete with each other, but we want to complement each other.”

The provincial government, in its goal to get wider attention, launched the Spark Samar tourism program at SM Megamall last week, focusing on market-ready tourist destinations.

These destinations are the tourist and market-ready places such as the Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge Park in Basey town, rock formations in Marabut, Extreme Torpedo Boat Ride in Paranas, Lulugayan Falls in Calbiga, and the San Juan by the Bay in Sta. Rita. (RTA/PNA)