In an archipelago brimming with nature, culture and history, Bicol has found a way to catch attention as a unique Philippine destination, Gigi Onag discovers
Bicol in the southern stretch of Luzon island in the Philippines had, for as long as anyone can remember, one major claim to fame. It was the home of Mount Mayon, described by many guidebooks as the world’s only volcano with a near-perfect cone. (Editor’s note: At press time, it was also living up to another title as the country’s most active volcano, having erupted more than 50 times since 1616, by putting on another terrifying show of lava works.)
The place is experiencing a renaissance in the few years particularly in domestic tourism, as expensive airfares make popular destinations like Cebu, Boracay and Palawan out of reach for most Filipino travellers. Bicol belongs to Region V in the Philippine geographical grouping, which consist of 14 regions from north to south. It covers six provinces – the landlocked provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Sorsogon as well as the two island provinces of Masbate and Catanduanes.
From January to September last year, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) logged more than 1.6 million visitors (this number does not include Albay) arriving in the region. “Remarkable, when we were not even on the vacation list of most Filipinos a few years ago,” notes Maria O Ravanilla, DOT regional director of Region V. Still, Bicol is a well-kept secret even to a majority of the 70-million population in this nation of more than 7,100 islands.
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