All the four regions of Northern Philippines comprising the Cordilleras, Ilocos and Pangasinan, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon are bracing for a tourism boom arising from the government’s ongoing “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.
Part of this massive infrastructure buildup covers the country’s airports, which the four regions host the most number of, and stands to benefit the most.
NorthPhil hosts the international airports in Clark, Subic and Laoag; principal domestic airports in Baguio City in the Cordilleras, Basco in Batanes, and Tuguegarao in Cagayan; and the community airports in Bagabag in Nueva Vizcaya, Baler in Aurora, Cauayan and Palanan in Isabela, Iba in Zambales, Itbayat Island in Batanes, Lingayen and Rosales in Pangasinan, Plaridel in Bulacan, Poro Point in La Union, and Vigan in Ilocos Sur,
Most of those provinces form part of two super-regions – the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle and the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway, both also accessible by sea.
All of NorthPhil can be reached by land from any of its three international airports, particularly Clark with its ever-increasing number of international and domestic flights and a passenger volume expected to reach 1.5 million by end-2017.
Unlike the international airport in Manila, Clark has room to expand.
From Clark, the rest of northern Luzon can be reached by land through three major road arteries, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), nd the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX).
TPLEX is due for completion early next year – thus making tourism traffic more convenient than any other region of NorthPhil’s magnitude.
The Department of Tourism’s offices in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Region 1 (Ilocandia), Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) and Region 3 (Central Luzon) have partnered with the private sector such as the Association of Tourism Officers of Central Luzon and Cebu Pacific Air in promoting the region through the NorthPhil Tourism and Travel Expo to be held at the SM City Clark, Pampanga on November 17 to 19.(Malaya)