WOW Ifugao - An Ecotourism Initiative at Mayoyao Ifugao
(*WOW stands for Wealth on Wonders)
Mayoyao eco-cultural tours focus on the rice cycle, particularly rice planting (Pfukhay) and harvesting (Pfoto’). It aims to bring in local and international tourists, as well as students to Mayoyao for them to experience actual planting and harvesting in the rice terraces. This eco-tour project is spearheaded by the Pochon and Maanichar Centennial Batch Assoc., Inc. (A.K.A. The Pochon Youth Group), in coordination with the Mayoyao Tour guides, Trekkers, and Indigenous Knowledge Holders Allied Organization (MATTIKHAO), the AKHA’KHAEMEH Cultural Performing Group and the selected host community, with the support of the Municipal and Barangay Local Government Units involved. This is the only ecotour project initiated by the youth within the municipality.
Being involved on a creative entrepreneurial business, the Pochon Youth Group and University of Luzon Students in Free Enterprise (ULSIFE) sealed their partnership in this undertaking. Part of the roles and responsibilities of the latter group is to aid the Pochon Youth Group to intensively promote the eco-cultural tourism as well as help in the business dynamics of such activity through various topics such as financial management, among others.
The tours are regularly conducted twice a year: January-February for the Rice Planting Tour and June-July for the Rice Harvest Festival Tour. Tourists are invited personally and through publications via the internet and local newspapers to join the tours for a fee. The tours are usually held on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to accommodate working tourists who would like to spend their weekend meaningfully. Participants to the tours will get to experience actual planting/harvesting in the rice terraces aside from trekking the beautiful and majestic Mayoyao Rice Terraces with the assistance of local tour guides. They will also be able to interact with the community-members and get to know the cultures and traditions that define the people’s ethnicity.
Participants will also learn how the Mayoyao Native Houses were built through a lecture-demo performed by the Indigenous Knowledge Scholars. At the end of the day, they will be entertained by the cultural performers who will showcase the Mayoyao dances and some rituals. Before exiting from the province, the participants will be given the chance to shop for souvenirs in Mayoyao and in Banaue.
After the tours, the participants are expected to go home with lots of meaningful experiences to share with their friends and families, while the Mayoyao community including the transport group, the tour guides, the IK scholars, cultural performers, and other stakeholders benefit from the tourism income that the tour participants have shared through the tours. The natural cycle of the rice terraces activities are not disturbed in the process and the guests may boast of experiencing some of the best authentic moments in the rice terraces.
Mayoyao eco-cultural tours focus on the rice cycle, particularly rice planting (Pfukhay) and harvesting (Pfoto’). It aims to bring in local and international tourists, as well as students to Mayoyao for them to experience actual planting and harvesting in the rice terraces. This eco-tour project is spearheaded by the Pochon and Maanichar Centennial Batch Assoc., Inc. (A.K.A. The Pochon Youth Group), in coordination with the Mayoyao Tour guides, Trekkers, and Indigenous Knowledge Holders Allied Organization (MATTIKHAO), the AKHA’KHAEMEH Cultural Performing Group and the selected host community, with the support of the Municipal and Barangay Local Government Units involved. This is the only ecotour project initiated by the youth within the municipality.
Being involved on a creative entrepreneurial business, the Pochon Youth Group and University of Luzon Students in Free Enterprise (ULSIFE) sealed their partnership in this undertaking. Part of the roles and responsibilities of the latter group is to aid the Pochon Youth Group to intensively promote the eco-cultural tourism as well as help in the business dynamics of such activity through various topics such as financial management, among others.
The tours are regularly conducted twice a year: January-February for the Rice Planting Tour and June-July for the Rice Harvest Festival Tour. Tourists are invited personally and through publications via the internet and local newspapers to join the tours for a fee. The tours are usually held on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to accommodate working tourists who would like to spend their weekend meaningfully. Participants to the tours will get to experience actual planting/harvesting in the rice terraces aside from trekking the beautiful and majestic Mayoyao Rice Terraces with the assistance of local tour guides. They will also be able to interact with the community-members and get to know the cultures and traditions that define the people’s ethnicity.
Participants will also learn how the Mayoyao Native Houses were built through a lecture-demo performed by the Indigenous Knowledge Scholars. At the end of the day, they will be entertained by the cultural performers who will showcase the Mayoyao dances and some rituals. Before exiting from the province, the participants will be given the chance to shop for souvenirs in Mayoyao and in Banaue.
After the tours, the participants are expected to go home with lots of meaningful experiences to share with their friends and families, while the Mayoyao community including the transport group, the tour guides, the IK scholars, cultural performers, and other stakeholders benefit from the tourism income that the tour participants have shared through the tours. The natural cycle of the rice terraces activities are not disturbed in the process and the guests may boast of experiencing some of the best authentic moments in the rice terraces.