Daragang Magayon Festival to lure more tourists

LEGAZPI CITY — This year’s month-long 2014 Daragang Magayon Festival, which kicks off last week of March, is expected to increase tourist flow to Albay and further perk up and boost its booming tourism industry.
Daragang Magayon Festival, which derives its origin from the legend of Mayon Volcano, is the new name of the former Magayon Festival, one of the country’s top five festivals, Daragang Magayon literally means ‘Beautiful Maiden.’

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said Daragang Magayon Festival is now world-class show and more and more foreign tourists now flock to Albay yearly to witness it, PNA’s Johnny Nunez reported.
The festival’s elevation to world-class standard was further boosted last year, when Albay was featured as a highlight tourist destination in the Philippine exposition at Internationale Tourismus-Börse (ITB) – Berlin, a convention of international trade and tourism stakeholders.
Salceda said the province has taken a new economic momentum from its former ‘Albay Rising’ development drive to ‘Albay BOOM!’ towards 2016. Daragang Magayon Festival, which helps lure more tourists, he added, plays a big role in the scheme. Albay now is considered as the new tourism giant in southern Luzon.
Albay opened in January its Albay International Gateway (AIG), which now provides direct travel links to the leading cities of China, Korea and Taiwan, initially. It is seen as a breakthrough, and over 350 Chinese tourists flew in immediately on board two inaugural flights of the country’s flag carrier.
This year’s Daragang Magayon Festival, Salceda said, will treat visitors to more exciting events including the now much awaited Parade of Higantes (Giants) of “Mythos kan Albay,” the Festival Showdown of all winning street dancers and presentors from other festivals of the Bicol Region, and the Mutya ng Daragang Magayon Beauty Pageant which had already produced several international beauty titlists, among others.
Festival organizers have also prepared a list of outdoor activities for visitors like Whale Shark (Butanding) Interactions, a 360-degree run around Mayon Volcano, the ATV adventures, mountain climbing, trips to various tourism sites in the province and special treats from noted entertainment celebrities.
The festival is also expected to further boost the Almasor (“Soul of the South”) tourism alliance which bundles up all the tourism potentials of the three provinces of Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon as a tourist destination package. It targets some 500,000 foreign tourists in the next five years