Sta. Marcela, Apayao - A village in Sta. Marcela, Apayao could possibly be declared as ‘Best Tourism Village’ in Cordillera after making it to the top 12.
Following intensive site validations and rigorous deliberations by the Department of Tourism - Cordillera, Abra Tourism Village was one of those shortlisted out of 26 tourism sites that applied for the search.
Site visit and evaluation were held on January 26.
Four villages in Apayao submitted their entries with the assistance of the Provincial Tourism Office but only 2 made it to the top 12 - Abra Village and the Marag Village in Luna, Apayao.
Apart from being a weaver’s village, Tourism Officer Cherrie Pulpulaan said the tourism village advanced to the search for being a steward of Tacang Small Water Impounding Project, Marcela Marshland and Bacut Lake Tourism Complex, and Nature Park.
“Everything was in place, the natural resources, the people, the culture, and the whole community. We helped them find the right platform because it is our job,” Pulpulaan said in a statement.
With the search, over P2 million cash prizes await winners with the first place getting P1 million, 2nd with P500,000, and the third with P200,000.
Five entries, meantime, shall get P100,000 each as consolation winners.
Criteria for Determining winners
In choosing the winners, five factors are considered. These are Sustainable Management (25 percent), Socio-Economic Sustainability (15 percent); Cultural Sustainability (25 percent); Environmental Sustainability (10 percent), and Rural Economic Development (25% percent).
Final site validations will be held from January 31, 2023, to February 5, 2023, to determine the winners of said search.
To recall, the search was launched last month with an aim of recognizing local tourism villages doing exemplary performance in promoting sustainable, responsible, equitable, and participatory rural tourism development.
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