Community-Based Research: Unveiling Bantay's Hidden Gems and Tourism Potential

    When our teacher, Ma'am Vera Cruz, assigned us to do a Community-Based Research (CBR) with the category ‘Tourism and Entertainment’ in our own municipality in Bantay. Our leader, Astrid, suggested that we should go with the topic of tourist destinations and attractions since Bantay isn’t truly much recognized or acknowledged for its tourism sites. Which genuinely got me thinking, “What really are the attractions here in Bantay, other than the iconic Bell Tower and St. Augustine Parish Church?” “What makes Bantay more than just known as a large town in Ilocos Sur?” As a Bantay resident, I should learn, explore, and dig deeper into this matter. 

    In the preparation of our CBR, we came up with a plan to find an effective way to boost tourism in Bantay. We looked at various factors that influence Bantay’s tourist attractions, such as what tourists prefer, demographics, and satisfaction levels. So, with the data that has already been obtained, we gained a better understanding of the residents’ viewpoints on historical sites, aesthetics, accessibility, and more.

    However, we didn’t have much time to interview 20 citizens from 5 different barangays, so we thought of an easier and more efficient way of interviewing them. Through the Google Survey Form created, we can successfully and quickly gather facts and information in a shorter period of time. When the 20 people finally finished the survey, I couldn’t help but be thankful because they'd put their time into answering this online interview. Their input will greatly contribute to our research, helping us understand Bantay's tourism potential better.

    In the process of making our CBR, my contribution was the title & subtitle, the conclusion, and the bibliography. Frankly, some of these weren’t my original tasks since my group had some complications and mix-ups. Although I pretty much enjoyed and had fun making my parts, the only thing where I had a hard time was that I had to squint my eyes just to perfectly analyze the responses in the database of the Google survey. For instance, I had to differentiate the perspective between males and females, if there’s something that they prefer more in terms of the historical site, aesthetic, etc. Another example, why the whole population placed Bantay Bell Tower as the first and Burayok Falls as the last. 

    With this information with me, this helped me to get to know more about my town and our people. I never taught we had 3 waterfalls: Bimmalde Falls, Apar Falls & Burayok Falls, and Victoria Park, also known as ‘Caniaw’ which is situated in one of the exquisite mountains called Mt. Tupira. Without executing this CBR, I could not have known these magnificent tourist spots existed until today. In addition, this also helped enhance my research skills, as this experience required me to dig into different sources like local guides and tourism websites. I learned how to effectively search for specific details about my town and its attractions. This improved my skills and helped me become better at researching. Now, I can confidently explore and uncover more hidden gems and interesting facts about my town and its surroundings.

    After completing all the necessary preparations for the Community-Based Research (CBR) project, it's finally time to create a website for it! I must admit that coding was quite challenging, but that didn't stop me from moving forward. I'm grateful for the guidance of our leader, who helped me whenever I felt confused. Now, I realize the need to further improve my coding skills to become even better. Developing the website to showcase our CBR findings is an exciting prospect, and it inspires me to embrace new opportunities and explore different aspects of web development.

    In a nutshell, the Community-Based Research (CBR) project on tourism in Bantay has been an eye-opening experience. Through surveys and data collection, we discovered the attractions and potential of our municipality. This project improved my research skills and introduced me to web development. Now, I'm excited to promote Bantay as a tourist destination and unwrap more hidden treasures in our town.