Tourism stakeholders in Ilocos Norte are looking forward to developing more budget-friendly destinations to attract more visitors, particularly those who want to enrich their travel experience without spending too much.

The Ilocos Norte Tourism Office (INTO) saw this emerging trend as the province welcomed almost 350,000 day visitors during the Holy Week.

Resyln Salud, who owns a lodging house in the coastal village of Saud in Pagudpud town, told the Philippine News Agency on Thursday that they were fully booked for the whole week.

“Business is good. We have so many visitors during the weekend,” Salud said.

Latest accommodation data showed high average occupancy rates across the province during the Holy Week, with Pagudpud leading at 97 percent, followed by Currimao at 75 percent, and Laoag at 60 percent.

These establishments reported being fully booked from Holy Thursday to Black Saturday, showing a growing preference for nature-based vacations, particularly during the peak days of the holiday period.

Aside from Ilocos Norte’s popular destinations –such as the UNESCO world heritage site St. Augustine Church in Paoay, Saud Beach in Pagudpud, and the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation in Burgos town – there is also a growing preference among tourists, including locals, toward the Coastal Boulevard in Currimao, Sentinella Hill in Bangui, and the upland towns of Adams and Dumalneg, according to INTO.

“We haven’t gotten the chance to sit down and study the statistics (visitors’ arrival) but I’m pretty confident there was an increase because we ran out of tour guides,” Dumalneg Vice Mayor Fraincess Kwyn Espiritu told PNA on Thursday.

With the influx of visitors to Dumalneg town, which is known for its refreshing Darna waterfalls, clean Bolo river and indigenous Isnag cuisine, Espiritu said talks are now underway for the provision of capacity-building training and seminar to address the need for more manpower in the tourism sector.

“We are set to convene this May to strategize how we can better manage the influx of tourists,” Espiritu said, adding the town’s tourism plan and code are also being finalized to attract more tourists and support local communities.

The Ilocos Norte government, meanwhile, is focusing on improving services in high-growth areas and assisting small businesses to cater to the emerging tourism trends. (PNA)