Increasing the Rate Tourism in the Municipality of Pilar through Parau Festival

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines is one of the most visited places in Asia and the government is focusing on attracting people to come to our country as it substantially helps raise the country's economy. Celebrating fiesta is part and bundle of Filipino culture. Pilar celebrates its "Parau" festival, in celebration of the Feast of the Our Lady of the Pillar. In this study, the researcher observed that millennial nowadays have already forgotten the local culture especially in celebrating festivities, hence, this paper was designed to make necessary propaganda and strategies in promoting local culture.

METHODS

In order to achieve the aim of the study, a descriptive research method was used which includes interview, questionnaires and other documents for gathering the information. The data accomplished from the survey forms were statistically treated by the researchers. The Tourism Officer and the Mayor were interviewed to gather more data with regards to the celebration of the Parau festival. Hence, pamphlets and flyers highlighting the festivities and delicacies of the event were distributed to residents for promotion and awareness.

RESULTS

With the objective of Parau festival, which is to promote tourism through the celebration of the festival, time will come that Pilar will be well-knownin other towns and municipalities. Through our own little ways, the researchers believe that there is a need to conduct the study of the Parau festival as a part of Bicolano culture that needs to be preserved and promoted to boost local tourism. Unfortunately, we have observed that the culture of celebrating fiesta has been forgotten by some and that is why there is a need to revisit and revive the culture again, which is only celebrated once a year. Furthermore, through this problem, we have crafted mini pamphlets and flyers and distributed it to the residents of Pilar for awareness and promotion to our fellow Pilareños.

DISCUSSIONS

Tourism has become a phenomenon of everyday life for hundreds of millions of people today. Cultural/heritage tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry because there is a trend toward an increased specialization among tourists. Especially, Filipino's interest in traveling to cultural/heritage destinations has increased recently and is expected to continue. The objectives of the Parau festival is to promote the local tourism, hence, it will be known by other towns and other municipalities through the propaganda in promoting the festivities that are part of our lives.