Tinglayan, Kalinga – For a possible re-opening of the tourism industry, the Municipal Local Government Unit of Tinglayan through the Municipal Tourism Office conducted orientation of tour guides, homestay owners, motorbikes drivers, tattoo artists, and artisans on Friday, February 19, 2021 at Barangay Buscalan.
Among the topics discussed by the personnel of the tourism office were the requirements needed to be accomplished by said sectors before they could be allowed to operate once tourism is re-opened.
In an agreement signed by Buscalan with the Local government, every household providing homestay for tourists must pass the sanitary inspection first before they could continue their operation.
One among those which will be checked according to Information Officer Larae Lactao is the existence of comfort rooms with septic tanks for both genders.
“First ket maipasa da didiay sanitary inspection nga ti basis na ket adda dapat diay cr for both men and women ti kada balay tapos dapat adda ti septic tank for every homestay,” Lactao said.
Rooms to be provided for tourist should also be separate from rooms of owners and must be well-ventilated.
Requirements for tour guides
For tour guides, Lactao said, they should possess their licensed to operate which they could get from the municipal hall after undergoing seminar on quality service, proper information dissemination including their knowledge on historical and mythical background of each of the tourist sites.
“They are also told of the rules and regulations they must follow as tour guides and at the same time, those which should be followed by our tourists,” she added.
For tour guides who wish to be accredited by the Department of Tourism, they have to undergo training from said agency first which requires, according to Lactao, a minimum of one week training.
Motorbike drivers, on the other hand, should have undergone training from the Land Transportation Office and his/her vehicle must be a registered one.
“Dagituy tattoo artist tayu met, isu ti madama nga i-coordinate mi tatta ta awan pay ti rules and regulations da ta idi gamin ket haan nga ma-iregulate gapu ta ni Apo Whang-od paylang ti talaga nga tattoo artist ngem gapu ta addan ti apprentice na nga family, relatives ken dagidiay pay agi-claim nga tattoo artist da met lang su nga madama pay ti tungtungan ti MLGU Ken barangay officials officials on how to handle said situation,” Lactao shared.
During the orientation, homestay owners were told to conduct disinfection of their houses. Attendees were also reminded to continue upholding the cultural values of Tinglayan.
"Let us not forget our values ‘Fain, Ngilin and Paniyaw’ because they make up who we are. It is deeply connected to our self-discipline," tourism officer Rosalina Bangngayon said.
Buscalan is known in the world as a home of the oldest and last-surviving hand tap tatoo artist (mambabatok), Apo Whang-od, and as one of the tourist destination in the municipality, most of the livelihood of the people became dependent on tourism industry, and now greatly affected because of the occurrence of the Covid-19 virus.
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