Catanduanes logs 54K tourist arrivals during Lent pna.gov.ph - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pna.gov.ph Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Carmel Bonifacio-Garcia, Catanduanes tourism officer (Photo from Garcia's Facebook page) LEGAZPI CITY - Declaring Catanduanes as the abaca capital of the Philippines is a "very timely gift" for the people in the province as it celebrates the 6th Abaca Festival this month and as the country's tourism industry gradually recovers from the pandemic, according to the Provincial Tourism Office. "Since we are gradually but surely restarting, (the) conservative forecast for the expected tourists: let's just say 500 to 700 arrivals but with a long night stay, it will contribute more to the economy as this would imply more spending," the province's tourism officer Carmel Bonifacio-Garcia said in an interview on Sunday. Catanduanes account for 89.4 percent of Bicol Region production and 36.2 percent of the country's total abaca supply as of 2020, data from the Catanduanes provincial agriculture office indicate. Aside from abaca, the province is well-known f