Vigan City is poised to welcome a surge of visitors, with an estimated 20,000 people expected to flock to the city on New Year’s Eve. All hotels and accommodations are booked fully, as of this writing. 

"Mas dadami pa ‘yan kasi maglo-long weekend pa rin hanggang December 31. Siguro mag-estimate na tayo ng 20,000 [tourists]... As of now, ‘yung mga lahat ng hotels natin at accommodation fully booked." Agnes Atriginio, Officer-in-Charge of the Vigan Heritage Administrative Office, said.

Tourists, eager to escape the conventional holiday celebrations at home, are making a beeline for Vigan City.

"Para maano ko naman ang ibang lugar, ma-experience ang ibang lugar," Juliet Lat from Batangas, said.

"We are also able to see how it was like before colonization and during colonization," Dorothee Dianon from Laguna added.

The evening hours have witnessed a bustling convergence of tourists in Vigan City that, as reported by the Tourism Office, presents challenges for calesas (horse-drawn carriages) navigating through the congested streets and dining areas.

This surge in tourism, encompassing both overnight stays and day-trippers, is proving instrumental in the recovery of the province's tourism sector, which has been hit tremendously by restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.