By Jess Malabanan | Posted on Sep. 05,
2013 at 12:02am | manilastandardtoday.com
CLARK Freeport– Tourism establishments
in Central and Northern Luzon are bullish with the development of the Clark
International Airport, a vital link that will connect them to other countries.
Clark International Airport Corp.
president and chief executive Victor Jose Luciano said Clark Airport is now the
airport of the north, especially with the construction of a new expressway that
would link Clark to other parts of Luzon.
“The construction of
Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway is a great factor that will connect
travelers from Baguio City and the rest of Northern Luzon areas to Clark,”
Luciano said during a gathering of tourism-related businesses at the Rosebowl
Restaurant and Azalea Residence in Baguio City over the weekend.
Luciano cited the benefits Clark
Airport would give to travelers from the north, saying travel time from Baguio
City to Clark would be cut by at least two hours once the expressway project
was completed. “Clark is now the airport of the north,” he said.
Hotel and restaurant owners, travel
agencies and tour operators, including local officials from Baguio City, La
Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay, held a Tourism Forum Road Show where
Luciano was invited as the guest-of-honor and speaker.
The forum, dubbed “Connecting BLISTT
to Clark-The international gateway” and organized by Tourism
Department-Cordillera Autonomous Region, aimed to increase the level of
awareness of the people in the north, including businessmen, overseas workers
and other stakeholders in the academe and civic organizations about the present
development at Clark.
Luciano said Emirates Airlines would
commence non-stop daily flights via Dubai-Clark on Oct. 1, while Qatar Airways
would follow with daily flights via Doha-Clark route on Oct. 28.
“There will be a boost in tourism in
the north especially Baguio City were Emirates and Qatar will bring in tourists
from Europe and Africa,” he said.
Luciano said the Transportation
Department was promoting a “dual airport system” that would develop both the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Clark International Airport to further
attract investments and tourists to the country.
“Manila airport has already reached 30
million annual capacity and will increase to 40 million in the coming years and
the government is now studying a dual airport system with Clark Airport to
decongest NAIA,” he said.
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