CITY OF MALOLOS—Bulacan, hailed today as the third safest place in the country to travel by the World Travel Index with its tourism industry—from heritage to modern cuisinie fusion restaurants to its agricultural and tourism farms, mountains, rivers, caves, glamping sites, tsunami wave resorts and other numerous indoor and nature tourist destinations has already posted a P.5 Billion earnings and sales from the first six months of the year from January to June.
Records at the Bulacan Provincial History Arts, Culture and Tourism Office (PHACTO) said from January to June this year, Bulacan’s tourism industry has already posted P510, 260, 567.72 million in payment recepits from more than 4.3 million same day and overnight local and international tourists arrivals, (same-day: 3,984,879 tourists; overnight: 238,889 tourists with a total of 4, 223,768 for local tourists) and 7,316 for Foreign Arrivals, (both same-day and overnight).
PHACTO head May Arlene Torres said the province was just recentky named “Among the Safest Travel Destinations in the Philippines by the World Travel Index 2025” with Dumaguete with 81.36 that ranks as first, followed by Davao City with 80.73; Bulacan with 76.42 as third. Balanga as fourth with 76.15; Lucena Cuty 75.24; Naga City 75.02; Baguio 73.99; Puerto Princesa City 71.46; Legazpi City 71.34 and Makati City 70.41.
As of March this year, Bulacan has already nearly 5,000 (4,843) tourism-related establishments—592 resorts, 11 resorts with hotels, 11 hotels, 290 travel agencies, 67 motels, Inns, apartelles, 1,589 restaurants, 448 agri-tourism farms, 690 salons and spas, 59 glamping and camping sites, 84 pasalubong centers, 687 coffee shops, 97 money changers. All the hotels, inns, apartelles and motels in and outside resorts have a total of 2,251 rooms to accommodate same day and overnight tourists.
PHACTO’s data are based on consolidated reports from all the 20 towns and 4 cities in the province.
The World Travel Index (WTI) is a travel website that compiles and analyzes tourism-related data to generate travel-based rankings in various categories, such as cost, activities, safety, infrastructure, and total tourist appeal.
Its overall safety score is computed using five subcategories-Day, Night, Theft-Free, Drug-Free, Violence-Free- based on the Numbeo Crime Index. It looks into the general safety of a place or area, with short insights on the propensity of criminal activities such as scams and theft.
Because of a Safety Index score of 76.42, Bulacan cane third after Dumaguete and Davao as first and second. “This proves Bulacan, that while being a historical tourism destination and considered as cultural capital of the Philippines, through all the officials and the people’s collaborative efforts, we make these richness we have including the beauty of our enviornment safe and provide comfort to our travellers that makes us be recognized with this achievement,” Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando told NEWSCORE Bulacan in an interview during Sunday’s Pagoda on the Feast of Mahal na Krus sa Wawa in Bocaue where he announced on his speech the recent recognition achieved by the province.
The travel portal’s assessment also makes use of “Al-assisted aggregated analysis of 50 million travel websites”.
This ranking shows which cities offer the best conditions for safety during travel. The better the ranking and the higher the value, the more safety this city can offer. The worse the ranking and the lower the value, the less safety this city can offer, Torres added.
Bulacan is now known with its slogan and hashtag, “BulacanBabalikBalikan,” which was introduced by the late former PHACTO hed Eliseo dela Cruz who also initiated several peojects and programs that raised to the next level the tourism industry in Bulacan.
Historic City of Malolos
The City of Malolos is the top richest historical town in the province being the site of the First Philippine Republic during the time of President Emilio Aguinaldo. Other than the Barasocain Church where the Malolos Congress and the First Philippine Republic were held, the city also hubs the then top national government offices during Aguinaldo’s time which were old native Spanish houses in Kamestisuhan in the city proper.
The convent of the Malolos Cathedral now Basilica Minore was then used by Aguinaldo as the Malacanang.
Bulakan town, where the New Manila International Airport of San Miguel Corporation is being built today is the birth place of Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Gregorio del Pilar, Deodato Arellano and other heroes during Spanish, American and contemporary times.
The City of Malolos continues to serve heritage Philippine Revolution cuisines through its prominent Pinoy restaurants in the like of “Bistro Malolenyo”.
Bulacan’s mountains, forests, resrvoirs
The mountainous towns of Dona Remedios Trinidad (DRT), San Miguel, Norzagaray, San Rafael, San Ildefonso, Angat offers serene forests, mountains, rivers, cave, falls including dams and reservoirs. Norzagaray hosts Angat amd Ipo dam. Bustos town hubs Bustos dam.
Religious sites and festivals
The City of Baliwag is known for more than 300 religious images paraded during the Holy Week.
Bocaue is famous for the Pagoda that sails thw town’s river every second Sunday of July Feast of Mahal na Krus sa Wawa.’
Pulilan is most famous for the Kneeling Carabao Festival while the coastal Obando town is known for the Fertility and Good Harvest Fedtival both in the month of May.
Guiguinto town known as the Garden Capital of Bulacan theough its “Halamanan Festival” is also a consistent awardee tor Best Festival in the province and in the country.
Pandi is rich with best resorts and is the first in the country to offer an electronic wave swimming pool, branded as “tsunami wave pools”. People all over also come to Pandi as maker of best Filipinona and Barong Tagalog.
The other cities—San Jose del Monte, Meycauayan and towns—Marilao, Santa Maria, Calumpit, Hagonoy, Plaridel, Balagtas, Paombong have their own best tourism destination. and food delicacy prides.
