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DOT: PH an ideal religious pilgrimage destination
Tourism Secretary Corazon Tulfo-Teo graces the Miss Iloilo Dinagyang 2018 Grand Coronation Night (Photo: Department of Tourism – Philippines/Facebook)
The Philippines, a predominantly Roman Catholic country with different religious activities celebrated annually in its islands, is eyed by the Tourism Department to promote “faith tourism” by being a religious pilgrimage destination.
“Plans are underway to make the Philippines a destination with unique spiritual significance that will attract millions of pilgrims from all corners of the world, as shown in popular religious festivities in Cebu, Iloilo, and Bohol,” Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo said in a statement on the weekends.
“The Philippines is an ideal destination of religious pilgrimage, not only for sightseeing but to actually experience time-honored Filipino traditions dating back to pre-Spanish era, and then the Christianization,” she added.
The Tourism Secretary made the statement after attending two well-known annual religious festivals in the Visayas region which are Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo and Sinulog Festival in Cebu.
Sinulog Festival is the feast of Santo Niño or Child Jesus held every third Sunday of January. While Dinagyang Festival is held every fourth Sunday of January, also in honor of the Santo Niño.
Furthermore, according to Teo, there are 6.6 million Catholics in Asia that would be beneficial for the country’s proposed tourism plan.
“In South Korea alone, the Philippines’ top tourist market, there are five million Catholics while there are 800,000 in Malaysia, 500,000 in Japan, 200,000 in Thailand, and 185,000 in Singapore,” she cited.
In line with this, Teo said that they will propose a budget to restore historical shrines and old churches all over the country. These developments will be in preparation for the 2021 commemoration of the 500th year anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan’s arrival in Cebu. Historically speaking, it was Magellan who brought Christianity to the Philippines.
