Tourism industry booming in Naga as guides tapped

Naga City—With a team of guides around, a boom in tourism couldn’t be far behind.

This city has realized the key role that guides could play in its surging tourism industry, deciding to train guides in August and deploy them in time for the Peñafrancia Festival, perhaps the country’s biggest feast in terms of attendance.

Alec Santos, city tourism and culture and arts officer, said the city government started a training program in August to meet demand for tour guides as an estimated one million pilgrims and devotees were expected to descend on the city for the Peñafrancia.

The city’s tourism industry is booming, he said, as it recorded 600,000 tourist arrivals last year and is enjoying an occupancy rate in its hotels of 70 percent year-round.

“We want to respond to the demand to make the stay of tourists memorable and informed,” he said.

Santos said 47 guides have been accredited after completing the training course. There’s plenty of sites to sell for these guides, he said.

One of the oldest Spanish settlements in the country, the city boasts of Spanish-era structures and religious artifacts.

Among the most interesting sites are the 17th century Penafrancia Shrine, 18th century Holy Rosary Minor Seminary, Naga Metropolitan Cathedral, Basilica Minore and several museums.

The pay won’t be bad for the tour guides. According to Santos, guides could earn from P800 to P1,500 per day for a group of 12 to 25 tourists.

Visitors have a choice of guides who could speak Mandarin, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian and English, he said.