NLEX ups tourism stats–MNTC

IF YOU build it, they will come.

That is the ethereal message that inspires an Iowa farmer in the iconic film “The Field of Dreams” to construct a baseball diamond in the middle  of a cornfield. And indeed, soon enough, people came in droves to watch the  games.

Renato Ticzon, vice president for marketing of the Manila North Travel Corporation (MNTC), believes such too, as evidenced by the increase in  travel and trade activities in the Northern Philippines brought about by better roads and the aggressive promotion of new destinations and tourism trade facilities in the said northern regions.

Better infrastructure means more travel, a boon in tourism. “When we are  able to provide better roads and better service more people will go. In the past years, we have achieved that. Year on year,  we see a spike in traffic at NLEX especially during festivals and important occasions in the  provinces,” Ticzon explains.

Known as the “Gateway to the North,” the 84-kilometer NLEX connects Metro  Manila to all the provinces in the northern regions of the Philippines. The  massive rehabilitation, expansion and modernization by MNTC on NLEX and SCTEX  has enabled smooth travel to the North, as well as easy of exchange  of goods and services.

“When MNTC started helping in the promotion of tourism in the provinces, a  lot of people were wondering why we had to do it. But we continued and through the North Philippines Visitors Bureau (NPVB), which MNTC  spearheads, we continue to promote tourism in North and Central Luzon by  enhancing the visitor experience in the region. We continued until we were  able to add a significant increment to what we call an organic growth to  our business because we have promoted destinations in the North,” says  Ticzon.

NPVB has a network of 13 convention and visitors bureaus.