Tourism corridor eyed to link Calabarzon destinations

MANILA – A tourism initiative called the Green Corridor will soon link several destinations in Region-4A (Calabarzon) under the new normal, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Wednesday.

In a press conference from Rizal province, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the department fully supports the initiative and vowed to extend support through online marketing campaigns as well as providing capacity-building training for tourism stakeholders.

Starting with Rizal, Romulo-Puyat said the Green Corridor Initiative could interlink several towns in the safety of a travel bubble.

“Rizal is blessed to have many open air, nature, culture-based tourism products and it has been proven that as long as open air and protocols are in place, we can restart tourism,” she told reporters.

Romulo-Puyat said destinations in Rizal correspond with the travel preferences of tourists amid the pandemic, which include places that are near the metro and with more open spaces.

“Through the Green Corridor Initiative, the City of Antipolo and the Municipalities of Angono, Taytay, and Cainta are interlinked in the safety of a travel bubble, furthering the DOT’s commitment to promote the province as a fun, sustainable and safe destination,” she said.

At the same time, she said the DOT will strictly monitor the compliance of all accredited tourism establishments with the Department of Health public health standards as well as the DOT health and safety guidelines.

“With several ongoing initiatives to spur tourism, we have to ensure that there are adequate accredited establishments to serve and accommodate visitors,” she said.

As of Feb. 28, there are about 95 accredited accommodation establishments in Region-4A, nine of which are from Rizal.

Tourism infrastructure projects have also been in the pipeline to provide better access roads to sites such as the Bunsuran Falls and Mystical Cave, both in Antipolo.