HARVEST RITUAL The communities of Hapao, Baang, and Nungulunan in Hungduan, Ifugao, received the first Best Tourism Village award from the Department of Tourism in the Cordillera in 2022 for their unique cultural practices, like rituals linked to the agricultural cycle. This photo was taken in Hapao during a postharvest ritual in August 2024. 鈥擯hotos by Eliza Consul/Contributor
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines 鈥� To promote sustainable tourism in the environmentally critical Cordillera region, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is focusing on grassroots tourism communities that are 鈥渁uthentic and not curated for guests,鈥� said DOT regional director Jovita Ganongan on Wednesday.
Since 2022, the agency鈥檚 Cordillera office has been awarding up to P1 million in grants to the region鈥檚 best tourism villages through an annual search. These grants, ranging from P100,000 to P500,000 and presented as prizes, fund amenities, such as clean public toilets and community museums, or are allocated to social, health, and infrastructure programs, Ganongan said at a briefing.
She added that the selected tourism villages are expected to create a ripple effect, encouraging neighboring barangays with shared landscapes and traditions to collaborate in promoting local tourism.
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During the nationwide lockdown between 2020 and 2021, when all businesses were forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOT had prepared for a 鈥渢ravel rebound,鈥� particularly in open spaces like the Cordillera mountains, Ganongan said in an earlier interview.
Immersive experiences
During Wednesday鈥檚 briefing, she stressed that the agency was aiming to shift local travel away from mere 鈥渟elfie鈥� tours鈥攚here visitors take photos of forests, landscapes and wildlife鈥攖oward more immersive experiences. The DOT briefing followed the formal launch of the third edition of the Tourism Village Challenge, which began in 2022 and is now being replicated in other regions.
鈥淥ur challenge in the Cordillera is accessibility,鈥� Ganongan noted. This issue, she said, can be addressed by organizing travel tours to clustered destinations, allowing visitors to stay longer, experience local cuisine, interact with the community, and understand its history, culture, and indigenous wisdom.
In 2023, the surge in 鈥渞evenge travel鈥� brought 1.68 million foreign and domestic tourists to the Cordillera, up from 1.28 million in 2022, according to an economic analysis published in April last year by Susan Sumbeling, regional director of the National Economic and Development Authority.
TEST OF STRENGTH In this photo taken in August 2024, men and boys in the communities of Hungduan, Ifugao, participate in 鈥減unnuk,鈥� a tugging match held in Hapao River and is the last of three postharvest rituals observed in this town hosting the rice terraces.
Road projects
鈥淭he implementation of 124 tourism road projects under the DOT-Tourism Road Infrastructure Program in 2023 has further benefited the region, improving access between visitors and tourism sites in the Cordillera,鈥� Sumbeling said. To date, 361.365 kilometers of tourism roads have been completed since the program鈥檚 inception in 2012, she added.
The first Best Tourism Village awardee was the Hapao-Baang-Nungulunan clustered community in Ifugao鈥檚 Hungduan town, selected in 2022.
Hungduan is known for its postharvest rituals known as 鈥渉uowah.鈥� Part of these rituals is 鈥減unnuk,鈥� a tugging match among villagers held in Hapao River.
Tourism in the region had long been centered on Banaue town鈥檚 world-famous rice terraces, but the Best Tourism Village designation helped shift attention to Hungduan鈥檚 terraces, said municipal tourism officer Haydee Hermosora. The rice terraces in the Ifugao towns of Banaue, Hungduan, Kiangan, and Mayoyao collectively form a World Heritage Site acknowledged by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
In 2023, the Bagumbayan Coffee Village in Tabuk City, Kalinga, won the top prize as Best Tourism Village. The following year, the award went to the sustainable tourism villages of Damag, Jacma,l and Bunhian in Aguinaldo town, Ifugao.
Bayani Malicdem, the DOT Cordillera senior tourism operations officer, noted that the term tourism village was introduced by the United Nations World Tourism Organization to describe rural communities that preserve their cultural heritage. However, in the Cordillera model, the DOT is taking this concept further by 鈥渆mpowering鈥� local communities to create their own tourism plans and decide how to share their culture with visitors, he said.