NAGA CITY, Aug. 7 (PIA)—“Triple C,” Bicolandia’s cluster offering for tourists, is one step closer to getting formally established after what could be the final draft of its framework was presented to Bicol Regional Tourism Committee (BRTC).
Triple C stands for Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes, a tourism alliance of three provinces in northern Bicol region.
It was framed after the Aquino administration’s National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) clustered the Bicol provinces for synchronization and connectivity.
But while Almasor—the tourism alliance of Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon provinces in southern Bicol—has completed its tourism development plan, the two Camarines provinces and Catanduanes have yet to formally inaugurate Triple C.
The first and second drafts of Triple C’s development framework failed to suit the BRTC. The BRTC was created by the Regional Development Council to provide institutional structure and facilitate coordination and management of tourism promotion in the region.
At any rate, the Triple C technical working group was unmistakably moving forward with the project as it submitted the third—and perhaps the last—draft of the framework to the BRTC during a meeting at the regional office of Department of Tourism (DOT) recently.
The framework provides the mission, vision and key strategies crafted by various government agencies and stakeholders to formalize the tourism road map of the provinces and their respective local government units.
Thus far, the Caramoan-Catanduanes Link remains operational. It fuels the tourist traffic between Guijalo in Caramoan, Camarines Sur, and Codon Port in San Andres town in Catanduanes.
Caramoan—where island hopping is the most popular activity for tourists—is 45 minutes by boat from Codon.
The Triple C tour package would reportedly be synchronized with surfing in Puraran Beach in Baras, Catanduanes; wakeboarding at Camsur Watersports Complex in Pili, Camarines Sur; and surfing in Bagasbas Beach in Daet, Camarines Norte.
The DOT says it envisions Triple C as a globally competitive tourism destination considering the “unique” cultural heritage and natural environment of the two Camarines provinces and Catanduanes.
It says once Triple C has raised its curtains, tourist arrivals would rise and with it come more jobs for townsfolk, bigger revenues, and improved infrastructures. (EAD/LSMacatangay/PIAV/Camarines Sur)