Kalibo Ati-atihan continues to draw local and foreign tourists

Department of Tourism (DOT) regional director Edwin Trompeta said the celebration of the Kalibo Ati-atihan as in the past continues to draw local and foreign tourists.

In fact, Trompeta said that people could barely now get a reservation from hotels, pension houses or inns in the capital town of Aklan, where the street-merrymaking would happen on January 19-20, the highlight of the Ati-atihan Festival.

He said that this is so because of the uniqueness of the Ati-atihan Festival from other festivals in the country. The Ati-atihan Festival is a devotional event. It is a pilgrimage in honor of Sr. Sto. Nino, the tourism director said.

The Ati-atihan tribes’ performance is spontaneous unlike the Dinagyang which is choreographed and a pageantry.

He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has helped promote the Ati-atihan of Kalibo when she went there to attend the mass and join in the revelry.

Because of the promotion of the Ati-atihan, the tourism director said he expects the crowd to swell during the festival’s highlight. Of course, politicians would be coming to grace the event, Trompeta said.

The director, however, appealed to the hotels, pension houses and inns not to take advantage of the influx of people because their skyrocketing prices may discourage tourists to come and affect the success of the event.