Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson
Ilocos Sur as premier surfing spot pushed
ILOCOS Sur Rep. Ronald Singson has urged the Department of Tourism (DOT) to promote his home province as one of the country’s surfing destinations.
“In the Philippines, we have a number of premier surfing destinations, including Siargao, Samar and other Southern destinations. In Luzon, we have La Union and Baler. A lot of you may not know this, but in Ilocos Sur, we also have Cabugao, which is a world-class surfing spot,” Singson said during the department’s budget briefing in the House of Representatives recently.
According to Singson, the province has seen an increase in the number of tourists after health restrictions were lifted. However, arrivals are mainly local tourists.
“That’s why I feel that we need to promote Ilocos Sur as a surfing destination in order to showcase our province and entice more tourists, both local and foreign, to visit,” he said.
Likewise, the Ilocano lawmaker pushed for the promotion of surfing as a major tourism product for the country.
“Surfing is one of the fastest growing sports in 2022 – one that we can promote as one of our major tourism assets. In Bali, for instance, tourism was sparked by surfing. Its effects trickled down to the entire tourism industry, and this is something we can also do in our country,” he continued.
In response, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said that the department will be holding a surfing summit in La Union in October wherein stakeholders from various surfing destinations are invited to discuss how they can effectively develop and promote surfing in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Singson asked the DOT to brand the Philippines as a sports tourism destination to spur more business and economic opportunities.
“One of the best ways to entice tourists to visit more places in our country is through sports tourism. And as an avid sports enthusiast myself, I see that the Philippines has a huge potential to become a sports tourism destination,” he stated.
He noted that after experiencing a place through sports, people tend to go back with their families and friends. This, he said, suggests that various sports have the capacity to boost tourism and, subsequently, increase economic activities.
He further said that there should be an agency, under the DOT, that is mandated to create programs and projects geared to the development of the country as a premier sports tourism destination.
“We have the Philippine Commission of Sports Scuba Diving, or the PCSSD, which was established way before we saw the potential of other sports as a tourism product. If I may suggest, not only should we focus on scuba diving, but on other sports as well. Private groups could contribute inputs to promote sports tourism in the country, without added cost on your part,” he said.
