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Friday, June 03, 2005
Mt. Pinatubo now a health tourist spot
WITH the opening of the Mt. Pinatubo Wellness Spa in Barangay Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac, outdoor enthusiasts can now enjoy a very soothing body massage or a revitalizing dip in a hot tub after a trek or climb to the volcano.
Both local and foreign tourists now have more reason to climb the volcano.
Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said the launching of the Mt. Pinatubo Wellness Spa complements the efforts of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to further develop and promote the Philippines as a major health tourism destination in the Asian region.
"The image of the Philippines as a health and wellness holiday destination has already gained foothold in the international community. This can be proven by the success of our participation in the International Tourismus Borse held last March in Berlin, where we focused on the country's spa industry," he said.
"In Singapore in May, where the International Spa Conference was held, we launched the Filipino Spa brand which features our very own 'hilot' (massage) and 'dagdagoy' (foot massage)," Durano added.
The Mt. Pinatubo Wellness Spa is an undertaking of two enterprising entrepreneurs from the Philippines-Korea Travel Agency Association, Patton Kim of Hana Tours and Chris Park of Philippines Number One Travel and Tours.
DOT Region 3 Director Ronaldo Tiotuico said the idea of developing a spa in Barangay Sta. Juliana was born when Kim engaged the services of the department in identifying new travel destinations north of Metro Manila.
"After a trek to Mt. Pinatubo, Kim became convinced of further developing the volcano and its surrounding areas as major tourist attractions with the local host population as the principal beneficiaries of such an initiative," Tiotuico said.
Thus, construction of the spa was started in November 2004 after a close coordination between the DOT and its developers.
"This endeavor has already greatly contributed to our effort of spreading the benefits of tourism in the rural areas," Durano said.
Around 150 local residents have actually received training and been hired as masseuse, food servers, mountain guides and souvenir makers.
The spa consists of a 200-pax capacity massage center utilizing Shiatsu technique for therapeutic heeling, 20-pax spa that uses volcanic hot sand pack from Mt. Pinatubo, 200-seat capacity restaurant serving health food, soda fountain that serves Korean health drinks and souvenir shop.
(June 3, 2005 issue)
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