CATBALOGAN CITY- In pushing the province’s tourism program, P10 million has been set aside by the provincial government. This was disclosed by Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan during a press conference held during the launching of the tourism promotion for the province dubbed as “Summer sa Samar.” Tan said that she is thankful that the members of the provincial board, headed by her younger brother, Vice Governor Stephen James Tan, are very supportive on this campaign. “Majority of the provincial board members supported the initiative reason why we did not find any difficulty in launching the program,” Tan said.
In fact, when she requested for funding about P10 million for the promotional campaign, they immediately approved it, the governor said. Tan is optimistic that their campaign will now make waves and achieve the goal which is to make Samar a top tourism draw in the region. “I know that supertyphoon Yolanda paved the way for the province to be known in the national level because of the devastation it sustained but we don’t want another Yolanda to happen for us to be known. Thus, we are pushing for the promotion of our tourism industry,” Tan said.
Vice Governor Stephen James Tan said the provincial board already allocated funds for the tourism programs of the province last year. Aside for promotional campaign, the fund requested by the governor was also used for the purchase of boats, several units of multicab and funds for training of the personnel in the tourism sector. The promotional campaign of “Summer sa Samar” was launched last April 17 in Catbalogan with pomp graced by tourism officials in the region and officials of other government line agencies. For this campaign, the towns of Basey, Paranas and Marabut, collectively known relative to the campaign as “Tandaya Trail,” are being pushed as windows of the province’ tourism attractions. The town of Basey is known for the Sohoton Caves while Paranas is home to Ulot River which is good for torpedo boat riding and Marabut offers white beaches and rock islets. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
