BAGUIO Mayor Benjamin Magalong and San Fernando City Acting Mayor Alfredo Pablo Ortega have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the formation of the “Summit and Sea” tourism bubble.
The bubble, just as the previous “Ridge to Reef” tourism bubble, would connect Baguio City with La Union’s capital city of San Fernando for tourism purposes, allowing tourists from the two locations to travel to the other with greater ease in the hopes of stimulating economic growth via more accessible tourism.
Magalong also said that the neighboring municipalities in Benguet can join the bubble, while Ortega said the bubble can expand to include beaches in the La Union towns of San Juan and Bauang.
Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, said that under the Summit and Sea Travel Bubble, Baguio and San Fernando will allow the interchange of tourists with the implementation of uniform entry protocols between the participant local governments, and limiting tourist travel to accredited and registered accommodation establishments, tourist sites, and attractions.
While an MOU has already been signed, the actual details of the bubble are still to be hashed out and worked on.
Currently, a Technical Working Group composed of representatives from the administration, tourism, police, and health offices of both local government units has been formed to work on formalizing the details of the bubble.
The governments of both Baguio and San Fernando are also reaching out to provincial bus lines to secure appropriate documentation for leisure travel between the participant cities.
The bubble is the second of its kind after the previous “Ridge to Reef” bubble was formally launched last year in October to encourage tourists to travel between the member cities and provinces, stimulating the economy along the way.
