Residents of Quezon province will be encouraged to share their homes with tourists and other visitors under a program initiated by the provincial government to help address the shortage of housing and accommodation facilities.
Alberto Bay, provincial tourism officer, said his office had started to scout for homeowners in different towns who would be willing to be partners in the “homestay” program and be trained as tour guides or in housekeeping and other basic skills to make their guests comfortable and safe.
The program seeks to make out-of-town guests experience a “home away from home” through living arrangements with host families offering extra private rooms for a reasonable fee.
Bay said the homestay concept would primarily appeal to local and foreign tourists who are “budget conscious.”
Quezon is endowed with many fine and serene beaches hugging its long coastline along the Pacific Ocean. “Most of them (beaches) are still in their natural state and waiting to be discovered, while some are now famous to local and international tourists,” Bay said.
Many foreigners also want to experience the “authentic lifestyle of the Filipinos,” which they could not genuinely feel in the comfort of air-conditioned hotels, he added.
While Quezon has many tourist destinations, there is a shortage of commercial inns to accommodate the growing number of visitors.
In coming up with the homestay program, Bay cited initial reports from local tourism officers, which showed that middle-class and low-income families were willing to share their homes with visitors.
The municipal tourism officers will serve as coordinators of the program.
Mauban town and the Alabat island-municipality, which both face the Pacific Ocean, have some enterprising residents who have opened their homes to visitors, Bay said.
“Quezonians are inherently very hospitable,” he said. “In some tourist sites in the province, local residents are also acting as tourist hosts and guides.”
On May 15, the province will celebrate four simultaneous major festivals—“Pahiyas” in Lucban town, “Agawan” in Sariaya, “Mayohan” in Tayabas City, and “Baluarte’t Aranya” in Gumaca.
Pahiyas is known for its exquisite display of multicolored kiping (colorful rice wafers arranged in chandelier-style artworks), farm harvest and other native products in every house along the procession route for the farmers’ patron saint, San Isidro.
The Department of Tourism has regarded the festival as a must-see tourist destination owing to Lucban’s rich cultural history, color and gaiety.
In Sariaya, the Agawan features bagakay (young bamboo branches) filled with hanging bread, cookies and fresh farm products ready for riotous grabbing by townsfolk after the procession of San Isidro passes by.
The Mayohan in Tayabas is also a celebration of the feast of San Isidro. Bundles of suman (rice cakes) and other farm produce are thrown to the waiting arms of revelers as an expression of gratitude for the bountiful harvest.
The Baluarte’t Aranya in Gumaca is known for the bamboo arch (baluarte) in major street corners, where exquisitely designed chandeliers (aranya) filled with vegetables, fruits and other farm products are displayed.