Quezon opens doors to tourists as COVID-19 cases drop

WHITE-SAND BEACH BECKONS Cagbalete Island in Mauban town, a popular tourist destination in Quezon province, only has a few local visitors in this photo taken early this year but is expected to draw more travelers as it reopens to leisure travelers, with the province now under under alert level 2 until Nov. 30. —PHOTO COURTESY OF JAY LIM

LUCENA CITY — With the easing up of quarantine restrictions and the dropping of the swab test requirement for fully vaccinated travelers due to the continuous decline of COVID-19 cases, the tourism players in Quezon province hoped to bounce back after a long slump.

Most restaurants, hotels and resorts in the province have started accepting guests since their workers have all been vaccinated against COVID-19 and have received clearance to operate from the Department of Tourism, said provincial tourism officer Alberto Bay.

Quezon, the other provinces in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal) and Metro Manila are now under less stringent alert level 2 until Nov. 30.

Metro Manila, where most of Quezon’s visitors come from, may be placed under the most relaxed alert level 1 if the daily COVID-19 cases nationwide drop to just below 1,000, Health Secretary Francis Duque III has said.

In Quezon, the active cases were down to only 123 as of Nov. 18 from the highest single-day tally of 2,570 on Sept. 21.

Popular destinations

Bay said their office had been posting on its Facebook page the list of destinations in the province that had opened, he said.

Among them was Cagbalete Island off the Lamon Bay area, known for its white-sand beaches, is now ready to receive visitors from outside of the province, said Anabelle Calleja, tourism officer of Mauban town, which has jurisdiction over the island.

Cagbalete hosted more than 200,000 leisure travelers annually before it was closed to tourists last year to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Lucban town, located at the foot of mystical Mt. Banahaw, is also back as one of the most popular destinations for tourists, mostly religious pilgrims heading for the Kamay ni Hesus (KNH) shrine.

KNH administrator Fr. Joey Faller said they expected more pilgrims to visit the 7-hectare shrine, which used to host around 20,000 weekend visitors before the pandemic.

Lucban ‘longganisa’

The sale of Lucban town’s longganisa (sausage), a sought-after food item that tourists often took home, has also gone up along with the increasing number of weekend tourists, said Rimberto Veloso, proprietor of the popular Eker and Ely Langgonisa in Lucban.

Veloso said that at the height of the pandemic, they could only sell 100 to 150 dozens of sausage on weekends. They could now dispose from 400 to 700 dozens every weekend, at P120 for small and P240 for jumbo sausages, he said.

Sariaya town, whose coastline facing Tayabas Bay is host to rows of resorts and other tourist-oriented businesses, has also reopened to visitors, said local tourism officer Jeffrey Jumarang.

But the Spanish-era mansions in the town, some of which have been recognized by the National Heritage Institute for their historical and cultural significance, would stay closed to visitors for now, said tour guide Ricardo Dedace. —DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.