The Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) and the city government of
Puerto Princesa will intensify efforts to prepare the Puerto Princesa
Underground River (PPUR) for more tourists following the latter’s win as one of
the New 7 Wonders of Nature (N7WN).
“The Department is one with Palawan and the Philippines
in celebrating this latest triumph. We congratulate Mayor Edward Hagedorn and
the people of Puerto
Princesa City
for this victory. Now, however, the real work begins, as there is more
reason than ever to strengthen environmental protection measures, optimize
accommodation and touring capacities, and the like. We look forward to working
on these with our local government and private sector partners,” said Tourism
Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr.
As vice chair of the PPUR-N7WN Task Force created by
President Benigno Aquino III in June, the DOT led a tri-media launch of the
official promotional campaign last July at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu. A month prior, the Department had already conducted
promotion activities for the PPUR during “Filipino Homecoming” road shows in North America.
The DOT also accomplished the following in support of the
campaign: conducted student forums in July to encourage blogging and tweeting
about the PPUR; hosted familiarization trips with print and broadcast media in
August; provided voting stations at the 2nd Cebu International Travel Expo in
July and 22nd Philippine Travel Mart last September; and promoted the PPUR
while participating in travel fairs such as the Japan Association of Travel
Agents (JATA) World Tourism Forum and Travel Showcase last September and
October.
In addition, the Department shouldered collaterals on the
PPUR for distribution at local governments and Philippine embassies, as well as
placed advertisements in leading newspapers and posters at the MRT, LRT-2 and
NAIA to encourage voting for the PPUR.
As a culminating activity for the campaign, the DOT
sponsored the Tunog Wunderground concert series this month in coordination with
Wunderground United, an all-Filipino celebrity project for the PPUR-N7WN
campaign.
The New 7 Wonders of Nature website describes the Puerto Princesa
Underground River
as reputedly the world’s longest underground river system, featuring an
8.2-kilometer navigable river through an impressive limestone landscape. It
joins the Amazon in South America, Halong Bay in Vietnam, Iguazu Falls in
Argentina and Brazil, Jeju Island in South Korea, Komodo in Indonesia, and
Table Mountain in South Africa on the exclusive list after a two-year vote
among 28 finalists that concluded last 11 November 2011.
As of October 2011, 196,959 foreign and local visitors have
been tallied at the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP)
for the year, already more than the 172,827 visitors for the entire 2010.
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