MANAOAG – A P6 million Tourism Youth Center, the first of its kind in the Philippines, will rise within the year in this pilgrimage town as proposed by Vice Mayor Kim Amador and as approved by the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) under General manager Robert Dean Barbers.

The building that will function as a tourism information and youth development facility will be called Manaoag Tourism Youth Center, according to Amador.

It will be constructed on the site of the municipal library in the town plaza.

Fully supported by Speaker Jose C. De Venecia, Mayor Napoleon Sales and the Sangguniang Bayan, the project was approved by Barbers last month.

Lauding the project, Barbers said “This is a good initiative that invests in the potential of the youth to actively participate in the community’s tourism development. The center would be a contributor the town’s continuing progress.”

The Center will have a livelihood training facility for tourism and hospitality skills development. It will serve as a venue for certificate trainings on housekeeping, waitering and other skills relevant for the people to have access to gainful employment. It will also house the town’s tourism information center, conference facilities for youth organizations, a sports equipment holding area and a temporary library.

Thousands flock to Manaoag yearly to visit the shrine of the Virgin of the Holy Rosary resulting in a vibrant commercial and tourism industry for the town.

“The beauty of this project lies not only in the physical structure, but more on its social significance. Manaoag, being a town that has blossomed because of our church and the pilgrims she invites, needs an informed citizenry on tourism culture, and the youth needs a venue to convene in,” Amador said.

“The Manaoag Tourism Youth Center is the marriage of those needs,” he declared.
Construction of the center will start this July and is expected to be open for use by the end of the year. (BFH-PIA)