DOT opens TRA facility in Carmen town

CEBU, Philippines — After over a year since its groundbreaking, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has finally inaugurated the Tourist Rest Area (TRA) in Carmen, Cebu the other day.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco no less along with her mother, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, her husband, Deputy Speaker Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco, and Carmen Mayor Carlo Mariano T. Villamor, led the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the TRA.

Also present during the ceremony were Provincial Board Member Andrei Red Duterte, Carmen Vice Mayor Mike Villamor, and DOT officials, namely: Undersecretary and Concurrent Director for Central Visayas Shahlimar Hofer Tamano, Undersecretaries Mae Elaine T. Bathan, Shereen Gail Yu-Pamintuan, Myra Paz Abubakar, Ferdinand Jumapao, Assistant Secretary Gissela Romualdez-Quisumbing, and Central Office Directors Annavie Lapitan, Judilyn Quiachon, and Ronald Conopio.

With its inauguration, the Carmen TRA, which is the sixth facility of its kind to be inaugurated, is now fully operational and ready to cater to travelers.

The said TRA is strategically built along the Cebu North Road, for easy access to visitors on a road trip to tourist destinations in the northern part of Cebu.

Most popular tourist spots in the north of Cebu include the towns of Sogod, San Remigio, Medellin, and Daanbantayan, and the City of Bogo, that aside from Bantayan Island.

The construction of TRAs all over the country is a brainchild of Secretary Frasco and a flagship project of the Marcos administration.

This is implemented in collaboration between the Department of Tourism and its infrastructure arm, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) with the aim of providing travelers with a “pit stop” where they can rest, charge gadgets, buy pasalubong, or use the rest rooms and breastfeeding station for free.

DOT sees the TRAs as a vital component in making the traveler’s journey safer and more convenient, as tourists can also get information about nearby destinations from the facility. —/GMR (FREEMAN)