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Unique, varied observance of Holy Week in the Philippines

Apr 18th, 2011
by Philippine Travel Blog.
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Lent in the Philippines is usually observed through weekly fastings and abstinence, penitence as well as the traditional passion plays or senakulo, panata, via crucis, visita iglesia and the pabasa in most barangays or villages in every town and city. At its culmination, there are unusual and diverse events which Filipinos prepare among themselves for their communities and their visitors that make Semana Santa or Holy Week piously meaningful and truly memorable.

“In spite of its solemnity, Lent and its peak of Holy Week are special occasions for Filipinos to pray, bond with loved ones and visitors as well as relax from the daily grind. The week-long religious observance is also a time to meld with our diverse cultural heritage by participating in different Lenten activities in our hometowns and then escaping to our summer getaways,” says Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim. (more…)

Posted in: Travel News Update and Travel Tips.
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Iloilo City to lure more tourism investors, visitors

Apr 8th, 2011
by Philippine Travel Blog.
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The city government here is looking forward to being the topmost competitive city to lure more investors and visitors alike.

Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog presented the initial copy of a “Briefer for Investors and A Guide for Economic Ventures” that bannered efforts to address concerns on infrastructure, peace and order and processing time of business permits.

The briefer was conceptualized by the Office of the Trade and Investments Board chaired by Felix Tiu. It contained the profile of the city, available infrastructure and facilities, transportation and communication facilities, priority investment areas, investment opportunities, business environment, business permit processing and incentives and cost of doing business. (more…)

Posted in: Destinations and Iloilo.
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The International School of Sustainable Tourism opens in Subic Freeport

Apr 6th, 2011
by Philippine Travel Blog.
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Famous for its historic past as a Spanish fortress and later as a well-preserved American military base, the Subic Bay Freeport is now home for the first school for sustainable tourism in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST), which is founded by former tourism Secretary Mina Gabor, now occupies the former Subic Bay Arts Center (SuBAC), a venue for cultural presentations, conferences and other programs.

Gabor said the ISST would offer various tourism courses to help boost the tourism industry in Subic and other parts of the Asia-Pacific.

In the next five days, she added, the school will start running courses like ecology lodge planning and eco-design with top quality lecturers and resource speakers from tourism establishments and related industries in the region. (more…)

Posted in: Education Tourism.
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Foreigners outnumbered local tourists in Boracay Island

Apr 6th, 2011
by Philippine Travel Blog.
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Foreign tourists coming to the island resort of Boracay outnumbered local tourists early this year.

For the month of March alone the Provincial Tourism Operations Office (PTOO) in Aklan recorded a total of 62,970 tourists having visited Boracay Island.

Of the total number of visitors, 39,615 were foreign tourists while 23,355 were domestic tourists.

However, tourist arrival in March this year is lower compared to the same period in 2010 which earned the tourism industry revenues of some P1,157,602,698.

The PTOO believes the decrease in the number of visitors was due to the onset of rainfall spawned by the inclement weather prevailing elsewhere in the region during the first quarter of this year. (more…)

Posted in: Boracay Island and Destinations.
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Capissaan Caves: From bat sanctuary to world-class tourist attraction

Mar 9th, 2011
by Philippine Travel Blog.
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Migrant Ifugaos visit Capissaan Caves to catch fruit bats as a native delicacy but these caves in Barangay Capissaan in this town offer more than food to the native villagers.

“We only catch fruit bats a few meters inside its entrance, we did not know what really lies beyond the abode of the bats,” said Richie Angcuna, 23, a cave guide.

For years, the cave served as a source of fruit bats among the Ifugaos until a group of mountaineers and spelunkers of Sang-at Salug Outdoor Club(SSOC) and GAIA Mountaineering Club (GMC), while on an adventure search for alternative tourist attractions in the province, stumbled on its beauty. (more…)

Posted in: Destinations.
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Donsol in Sorsogon also a breeding ground for Whale Sharks

Mar 8th, 2011
by Philippine Travel Blog.
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Not only is Donsol town in Sorsogon is called whale shark (“Butanding”) capital of the country but it will now also be considered as a breeding ground after authorities discovered recently a 15-inch long baby whale shark in the town’s coastal waters, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) in Bicol said.

Maria “Nini” Ravanilla, DOT regional director, said the nature conservation group World Wide Fund-Philippines is conducting the study after the recent discovery of the baby whale shark accidentally caught in the area off the coast of Donsol.

According to Ravanilla, the smallest ever butanding was said to be a day-old whale shark hence it was born in the area.

Butanding are also thriving in this once sleepy town because of the abundance of krill and other planktons usually in the diet of the gentle giants of the seas. (more…)

Posted in: Destinations, Sorsogon and Whale Watching.
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