SAN FELIPE, Zambales—Weekends are a heady time for business at Liwliwa, a beach community that is packing tourists and visitors like the proverbial sardines in this relatively sleepy town of Zambales.
Ryan Santos, the resort manager, said people of all shapes and sizes came to Bali of Liwa since it started operating last April. Most were from Manila, Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, and even as far as Laguna.“They looked for beautiful places, for something Instagrammable, something they can post on social media,” observed Ryan.
TOURISM was a big casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a study by the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department of the House of Representatives using data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the growth of the country’s tourism industry was halted by travel restrictions, border controls and stringent community lockdowns imposed by the government.
This was the latest in a continuing growth from a total of 71,552 local and 1,063 foreign arrivals in 2020, the lowest under the Covid-19 health crisis, to 100,488 local and 3,340 foreign arrivals in 2021 after the plunge. This, from the top record of 692,380 local arrivals and 62,761 foreign arrivals in 2019.
The most popular destinations requested for visits were the resort towns of San Felipe, San Antonio, and Subic, VISITA data showed.Double the number In 2020, the total rose to 273, with the most in San Felipe, 48; San Antonio, 46; Iba, 40; Candelaria, 26; Cabangan, 22; San Narciso, 21; and Botolan, 17.
HAND in hand with the growing number of visitors to Zambales and the increase in the number of accommodation facilities in the province, the local tourism industry is also experiencing significant growth in tourism income. This explains why the top five tourist destinations in the province this year are all situated by the sea: Anawangin Cove in San Antonio town, which logged in a total of 49,044 visitors from January to June; Nagsaza Cove, also in San Antonio, with 21,686; Talisayen Cove, likewise in San Antonio, with 16,739; Silanguin Cove, in the same town, with 11,706; and Capones Island, also in San Antonio, with 4,582 visitors.