A nondescript port in Ilocos Sur takes on its second port call from the Royal Caribbean this week with some 6,000 passengers.
House Deputy Speaker Deogracias Victor Savellano said it was a surprise to Ilocano folk that huge cruise ships are making port calls on this rustic Salomague town.
The first was on the early morning of Dec. 26, 2019 when the MV Spectrum of the Royal Caribbean made its maiden trip to Salomague. Another came on Jan. 6, 2020.
It brightened prospects in the tourism industry for Salomague and the province of Ilocos Sur, Savellano of Ilocos Sur's First District said.
According to Savellano, the development of the Salomague Port is part of a long-term development plan that would boost tourism and the economy of the province.
“That is part of a development plan that we made in the First District—to develop the port for cruise ships rather than a container port which could have some adverse effect on the environment,” Savellano says.
“The construction of a coastal road was also part of this plan—to make the airport more accessible to tourists from the Salomague Port,” he added.
Relative to this development, the Ilocos Sur lawmaker asked the Department of Tourism and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority to build world-class restrooms in the 11 municipalities of the province to serve local and foreign tourists.
Savellano said there is so much to do and so many things to see in Ilocos Sur.
“Soak in the sun at the nearby Cabugao Beach or head south to historic Vigan or lounge on the secluded beaches of nearby Cabugao. And for a more urban excursion, head about an hour south to historic Vigan City where Spanish colonial architecture have been preserved,” Savellano said.
Take a tour of the old city on a horse-drawn carriage, the kalesa, and travel back to the colonial times, he added.
After a historic sight-seeing, nothing beats a cool buco juice or a dig into the province’s gastronomic delights like the crispy bagnet, Ilocos empanada or Vigan longanisa, to name a few.
Savellano said Ilocos Sur has a lot to offer and that the doors of Salomague Port is open to welcome all its visitors.