Recalibrated tourism products focusing on faith, food, art, adventure, and nature are set to be developed in Rizal as part of efforts to revive the tourism industry in the province and in the entire CALABARZON region.
Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said Rizal's close proximity to Metro Manila, in addition to its vast spaces and attractions, makes it an ideal tourism development to stimulate the recovery of the industry. "These tourism circuit bubbles are part of the continuing initiative to stimulate the demand for travel to and from the CALABARZON Region and Rizal Province and jumpstart leisure travel by land through responsible tourism," Puyat said.
According to Puyat, the Faith, Food, Art, Adventure and Nature Tourism Circuit will feature tourist attractions in Antipolo, Angono, Taytay, and Cainta.
Data from the DOT showed that CALABARZON recorded the highest number of tourist arrivals in 2019 with close to 9 million overnight tourists and over 51 million same-day arrivals. The province of Rizal alone accounted for 36 percent of the overnight arrivals, and 60 percent of the same-day visits, and contributed P28.2 billion out of the region's P93.9 billion total tourist receipts in 2019.
Puyat also assured tourists planning to visit Rizal as 20 tourism establishments there received Safety Seal certification from the DOT which means that they are compliant with the government's minimum health standards.
Aside from the new developments planned for Rizal, other provinces in the region namely Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon will also have their own novel tourism projects.
All provinces in the region are part of the CALABARZON Green Corridor Initiative, a flagship program of the DOT Region IV-A for tourism recovery and response in the new normal, and for the promotion of the region as a fun, sustainable, and safe destination.
"These travel bubbles will help generate jobs in Rizal Province and its neighboring towns, this providing business and livelihood opportunities that drive economic growth," Puyat said.
The DOT chief led on Wednesday, Oct. 6, the rollout of the Department's vaccination program in Rizal which aims to inoculate over 13,000 tourism workers.
Recipients will include workers of DOT-accredited hotels, resorts, and restaurants, transport operators, artists, employees in farm tourism, health and wellness, tourism training, and workers from Taytay Tiangge.
"The vaccination of tourism workers, along with the implementation of health and safety guidelines for conduct of tourism activities, is one of the priority measures of the DOT during the pandemic," Puyat said during the program.
"With a protected workforce, we can look forward to a swifter recovery and better times ahead," she added.