Almasor emerging as tourism giant Written by Tribune Sunday, 03 March 2013 00:00 font size Print Be the first to comment! The Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon (Almasor) tourism alliance has helped bring more tourists to the Southern tip of the Bicol Region in less than a year from its inception, and made possible the funding of big tourism infrastructure support projects in the area now amounting to P4 billion. Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, Almasor Tourism Alliance convenor, said many projects separately intended for the three provinces, which were previously difficult to fund, “became financially feasible under the Almasor concept.” Now dubbed the “Soul of the South” in the country’s tourism industry. Almasor was formed in March 2012 by Salceda as chairman of the Bicol Regional Development Council (RDC). It was designed to bundle the world-class potentials of the three provinces tourism assets into a one-stop-shop package for tourists. Albay has Mayon Volcano and Cagsawa Ruins, two international tourism icons; Sorsogon offers the world famous Butanding interaction in Donsol town, and Masbate boasts of unexploited world-class beaches and coves, and dive sites. These assets needed infrastructure access support for visitors. Albay posted a 49 percent tourist arrival growth in 2012, making it the fastest growing tourist destination in the country. Sorsogon came second with a 31 percent growth. The two provinces are likely to pull up Masbate, which registered a conservative one percent hike in 2012 with the help of infrastructure projects now programmed for Almasor, the governor said. Salceda, who’s pushing Almasor hard in preparation for the expected tourist influx when the Southern Luzon International Airport (SLIA) opens in 2015, has renamed his Facebook Account SirChief TourGuide Joey Salceda. SLIA is also among his pet projects. He said it is now easier to source out budgets for support infrastructure to these tourist destinations under Almasor as the base is not just one province but three so there are economies of scale and critical mass. In addition, the infra projects are linked to tourism under the Aquino administration and their outlay can be sourced from the annual budget in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Tourism (DoT). Under Almasor, Salceda said big convergence projects are set to be pursued in 2013 under the DPWH-DoT joint infrastructure programs, primarily for Masbate province, including the Masbate City Road Project, P400 million; the West Ticao Coastal Tourist Highway, P250 million; and the Sto. Nino-Guinhadap-Monreal Road, P250 million. Published in Nation
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 03:07:40 +0000
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