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Welcome to Northern Ireland

We are delighted to welcome you to Northern Ireland. Take a small step and start planning your next giant adventure today.

We’ll provide trip inspiration and local tips on where’s good to go. You’re about to discover a true hidden gem which tucks in more amazing, truly memorable experiences than you could ever imagine. And they’re all just a stone’s throw away from each other. With your every step, you’ll uncover something surprising and new, filling your trip with delightful holiday memories.

We have wild, rugged coastlines that demand awe and adventure. Gently unfolding rural landscapes filled with trails, local stories and nature. Buzzing cityscapes and towns, flowing with life and urban exploration. Cafes, hotels, guesthouses, campsites, attractions and experiences that wrap you in a warm, giant welcome. You might be planning just a short getaway, but we hope you’ll be dreaming of coming back before you’ve even left. 

Discover it all in Northern Ireland

The adventure never stops, regardless of the weather. Even just down the road, it can feel like a totally different season. Plan for long sunny days spent on the magnificent mile-long beaches of Portstewart, Portrush and Newcastle, or hours of fascination exploring our industrial heritage while waiting for rainclouds to race away. You might say it’s the best of all worlds. Here we just say it’s another great day in Northern Ireland.

Giant Adventures, Giant Feasts, and Giant Welcomes

As the official tourism body of Northern Ireland, we’re not just here to inspire you. We’re here to help you make the most out of every memorable moment on your trip.

Have a look around here and see what captures your imagination. The sights, places and things you most want to see and do. Where you’d most like to stay, from the splendid luxury of our very best boutique hotels to a rambling camper van or family campsite with outrageous views. Along the way, you might stumble across something unexpected and exciting that you just have to try. We’ve plenty of inspiration and information for that too.

Explore, plan, and more

We’ve all got a different sense of adventure. Whatever you’re looking for in a break, we’ll help guide you with the right information and inspiration. From rugged backpackers and scratch golfers, to bookworms and fun-packed family holiday lovers, and everything in between. 

Beyond pure inspiration, you’ll also find practical advice, insider tips, guides, maps, and entertaining and informative blog posts for even more of a flavour of what makes this unique place tick. So, let's get started... we’re ready when you are!

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Awaken your Giant Spirit

During the construction of Belfast Grand Central Station, public transport and road users are advised to plan their journeys in advance to incorporate guidance around the ongoing engineering works.

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Financial Planning and Forecasting for Developing Start Ups

30 Apr 2024

The Go Succeed Start team hosts this online workshop; Financial Planning and Forecasting for Developing Start Ups.

This workshop is for you if you are an early-stage trading business that demonstrates potential to become an employer enterprise. 

We will share with you practical guidance and tips on essential business financial elements that are critical to the future success and growth of your business.

You will learn:

• Good business records  – how to keep good records for tax and other purposes
• Bookkeeping  – the different types of systems; how to choose and use a cloud-based bookkeeping system (including a live demo of QuickBooks)
• VAT  – when and how to register; how to manage VAT
• Other key taxes  – how to prepare and manage your returns and payments
• Funding  – how to prepare for external funding
• Planning and forecasting  – how to analyse your business and plan for profitable growth
• Business oversight  – how and when to oversee your business performance and increase your chances of survival and growth

There will be opportunities to ask questions about your own business and learn from other real life start-up business owners.

This Go Succeed workshop is open to all individuals in the early stages of their business, throughout Northern Ireland, and is facilitated by Enterprise Northern Ireland.

About the Presenter

He is a Member in Practice of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants with over 35 years’ experience in banking/finance and providing advice to business owners.

Tony is a Premium Business Adviser with Enterprise NI and a Business Finance Mentor with Tourism NI. He is also a Senior Credit Reviewer with Credit Review Ireland, whose role is to independently review appeals by business owners whose bank borrowing requests have been declined.

With extensive experience up to board director level, Tony specialises in showing start-ups, existing businesses and not-for-profit organisations how to improve their financial management, corporate governance and overall effectiveness.

He strongly believes that owners/directors should develop a good level of understanding of their business finances, including taxes and cash flow to improve their chances of sustainability and growth.

He has recently delivered webinars on finance related topics including,  Managing a Business through Recovery and Growth; Pricing for Profit; Managing your Seasonal Cash Flow; Finance Basics for Start-ups; Cloud-based Bookkeeping; Improving Business Finances.

Event details

10am - 12pm

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The starter portal is a basic portal that provides you with content, templates, and infrastructure to help you get started and build a functional portal for your organization quickly and efficiently.

Money: '£2,000 landed in my account' - The people who say they're manifesting riches

We delve into the world of manifestation - but will a one-day course help our reporter land some extra cash and an engagement ring? Enjoy our weekend reads, and leave a comment, below, and we'll be back with all the latest personal finance and consumer news on Monday.

Saturday 27 April 2024 10:13, UK

Weekend Money

• '£2,000 landed in my account' - The people who say they're manifesting riches
• Iceland's new slogan and cash for grades: What our readers said this week
• Calculate how much your take-home pay will change this month with national insurance reduction
• Why are mortgage rates going up?

Best of the week

• The world of dark tourism - what is it, is it ethical and where can you go?
• Virgin Media customers share their bad experiences of customer service
• More Britons paying inheritance tax after chancellor freezes threshold - so how can you beat it?
• 'More important than a will': What are lasting power of attorneys and how much do they cost?
• 'I have a mortgage offer - will it change now rates are rising?'

Ask a question or make a comment

By Jess Sharp , Money team

My journey into the world of manifestation (the belief that you can attract success in your life through positive affirmations and visualisation) has taken me places I never thought I'd go.

Like woods in Edenbridge, where I stood meditating under a tree in the pouring rain. I don't yet know where my journey will end (I've been hoping for an engagement ring but my boyfriend hasn't yet seen my visualisations), but it started with a conversation with Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, one of many people who say manifestation has transformed their lives.

"About a year ago, there was something happening and I thought we just need two grand to cover the expense," Jamie, a former dancer from London, told me. "The following day £2,000 landed in my account."

It sounded like a coincidence to me, too.

But Jamie was adamant. His husband calls him "the master manifester" because of his "ability to bring in money".

"It's happened on so many occasions, like four, five times," he said. "I've become very clear on what I want and the amount of money I need and literally it can be within 24 hours that I get a phone call for a job and it's almost identical to what I asked for money-wise."

When I asked the now-psychic where the £2,000 actually came from, he said it was payment for a modelling job he had been offered.

"With manifesting you don't get caught up in the how, and often it comes in ways that you don't expect," he added, explaining it could come as the result of a claim after being in a car crash.

"It's not always coming in the way that you think but money is out there for us to take in the world. It's just having the confidence to receive it and we are worthy of it."

"Even if it is a placebo effect, does it matter?" he said.

The 43-year-old also believes he manifested his husband Fiongal after being diagnosed with cancer. While going through treatment and dating "a lot" of people, he decided to take matters into his own hands, or rather his own head, and started visualising his perfect partner.

"I decided to spend a good couple of weeks getting really, really, super clear in my mind what this person looked like. Then I started creating lists asking about personality traits, and all the things that I wanted that person to be," the former dancer said.

"The day I got the all clear from cancer I randomly met my husband and when I look at the list of the things I asked for, he pretty much ticks every single box. I really, really believe that is because I got super clear on what I wanted and I put that out to the universe to bring to me."

Jim Carrey and manifestation

If you think this is a new practice, it isn't. Jim Carrey was doing it back in the 90s. He famously wrote himself a $10m cheque for "acting services rendered" and dated it years in advance. Then in 1995, he was told he was going to make the exact amount for filming Dumb and Dumber.

The idea shot up in popularity again in 2006 after Rhonda Byrne published her self-help book The Secret.

Since then, it has hit every inch of the internet and has resurfaced on TikTok with videos posted under #manifesting accumulating a huge 13 billion views.

I tried to learn manifesting - I felt like an idiot

After hearing Jamie's story and seeing the idea was popular with so many people, I thought it best to try to learn manifestation myself. I mean, who wouldn't want money landing in their account and a work promotion from the universe?

As I stood in the woods, in the pouring rain, being told to imagine roots growing from the soles of my feet, I felt like an idiot.

I was soaking wet (of course I had forgotten a coat with a hood) and while my mind kept wandering through thoughts about being cold, if I'd hit traffic on the way home and how dirty my white trainers were getting, a gentle, soothing voice kept bringing me back to what I was supposed to be thinking about.

"How we are all connected, how the trees and plants produce oxygen that we breathe, and we breathe out carbon dioxide which they need to survive"

While some people focus their manifestation practices on being grateful to the universe, Tansy Jane Dowman believes we need to get "out of our heads, into our bodies", connect with nature and find our true selves before we can practice it successfully.

My meditation in the woods was just one part of a six-hour workshop run by Tansy, which aimed to send me off with a clearer vision of what I truly desired.

Tansy charges anywhere from £25 to £580 for her courses, which range from one-on-one sessions and an online six-week programme, to forest bathing workshops and weekend-long nature retreats.

But some courses have popped up online which cost more than £1,000.

Tansy started practising manifestation in 2018 after going through a difficult period in her life. She eventually quit her job in events management and started teaching others how to do it successfully.

"The way I manifest is not to focus on material wealth or gain. I would ask my clients what an abundant life means to them in terms of feelings, experiences, connections, people and places," she explained.

"The more authentic you are, the more of a beacon you become for those things to find you."

After spending time walking in the rain and meditating under a tree, Tansy and I sat in her dining room and explored some of the happiest moments in my life and the feelings I experienced. It became clear I like feeling accomplished, needed and excited.

We also spoke about challenging times, but the conversation focused on the positives, like how I had overcome them and what I had learned.

"It's so important to bring in your values with manifestation because sometimes we can get really confused with what we want, with social media especially," she told me.

Throughout her house, Tansy has a number of "abundance boards" proudly on display - some she has made with her children, others are from her annual January tradition of setting out her desires for the year.

"I've had some really wonderful goosebump things happen to me. I did a board at the beginning of 2020... I put a picture of a microphone on it. I just thought I really like that image and I didn't immediately place any meaning onto it," she said.

"Then as the world was shutting down for lockdown, I did a press event and I met a lady who worked for Wellbeing Radio and she wondered if I would be interested in trying out as a presenter."

She explained that some people will be very specific with their desires, like selecting a photo of the exact car they want, or the perfect house, but that isn't how manifestation works. There needs to be an element of trust in the universe giving them what they attract.

As we created my abundance board, which Tansy describes as being like a "personal algorithm", she told me to select images and words from heaps of magazines that called to me intuitively.

As you can see from the picture below, mine calls for being "financially fabulous", travelling, getting engaged (coughs loudly in earshot of boyfriend) and living stress-free.

And while I'd love a big cash injection, Tansy explained to me that money is "only a stepping stone to a feeling" and, ultimately, I'm aiming to create an emotion with it.

Manifesters more likely to go bankrupt

While all the manifestation believers I spoke to said there was no downside to the practice, a researcher has been looking into whether it really does pay off.

Based in Australia, Dr Lucas Dixon (who specialises in consumer psychology) created a scale from one to seven to rank a person's strength of belief and found those who practice it are more likely to have been victims of fraud and declared bankruptcy.

He said there was a "danger" that manifesting could become harmful if taken to an extreme level.

He found those who believe in manifesting tend to think more positively and have a confident attitude when it comes to success, and while that can be helpful in business, it can also cause them to take unnecessary risks.

"They weren't more objectively successful in terms of having higher income or higher education attainment," he said.

"We also found that they are more likely to believe in get-rich-quick schemes, more likely to take higher risks... to have risky financial investments and more likely to have investments in cryptocurrency rather than traditional stock."

Using the scale he created, Dr Dixon found those who have "very strong beliefs", ranking at a seven, were 40% more likely to have gone bankrupt.

"The danger comes in a couple of different forms," he said, explaining that a "worst case scenario" could see people getting into financial difficulty by being encouraged to "just look at the positives".

"Someone might say it's not harmful because it is really just thinking positively but I think even that can be harmful because of what you might call an opportunity cost," he said.

"You're spending time, energy and money doing something that doesn't have a lot of evidence behind it. We found it does make you feel good but you don't need to pay thousands to do it."

Okay, so back to me...

I did my manifestation course about two months ago, and I have done as I was instructed - my abundance board is up in sight inside the flat, and I often have a cup of coffee in front of it.

But, so far I'm still using a credit card, the most travelling I've done has been to work and back and there is still no rock on my finger. I have been given an annual pay rise, though, and would say I am less stressed.

Perhaps believing that I'm just doing my best and there's a chance that I'll be rewarded for that one day, eventually, in the future, maybe, is making me feel better... who knows?

Each week, Money blog readers share their thoughts on the subjects we've been covering, and over the last seven days your correspondence has been dominated by these topics...

• Iceland's new slogan
• Rising mortgage rates
• Giving kids cash for grades

Iceland's new catchphrase

We learnt on Monday that Iceland had dropped its tagline "That's why mums go to Iceland", replacing it with "That's why we go to Iceland".

The move was made to reflect the store is for everybody, said brand ambassador Josie Gibson. Readers were split - with some feeling so strongly that they're prepared, they suggest, to sacrifice those frozen Greggs steak bakes forever...

I previously contacted Iceland about their slogan because I didn't think it did single dads justice, as dads can go to Iceland too. Their response was that people understood that it's not just mums that go to Iceland. It's about time they changed the message. Dave T  

Neither I, my wife or my children will shop in Iceland again due to this stupidness and woke attitude. To hell with you [Iceland boss] Richard Walker. John  

Banks hike mortgage rates

This week we reported that high street lenders such as Halifax, TSB, NatWest, Barclays, Leeds Building Society, HSBC and Coventry had all hiked mortgage rates (see 7.33 post for details). 

You said...

With house prices at already extortionate levels, now mortgage rates rising again, is there any hope for first-time buyers? Honestly, the situation is so bleak, people may need to consider other countries. GenZ 

Why would this happen? So many young couples struggling to get on the property ladder. I live in Dorset - a one-bedroom flat costs from £230,000. In Scotland, one can get a beautiful two-bed house for that price. Feel sorry for all couples living down in the South. Need huge deposits. Barbs

Why are they called high-street banks? Most banks in my town have closed. Martin J

Parents offering cash for good grades

A lot of views came in after our feature exploring the positives and negatives of parents incentivising good school grades with cash...

We had scores of comments on this - with a fairly even split...

We did it for our son at GCSE time. We think it made a difference of about a grade on most subjects. Got a two-grade lift on maths. Cost us £350. Thought it was good value as it has taught him how things work in the world. Andy

The whole world is built on a reward system which symbolises access to money commensurate with effort and excellence. The Nobel prize goes with a cash reward! Tom Deggs

Employees are offered incentives for achieving targets, so why not offer kids incentives for better grades? Claire228 

But others had concerns...

I think it puts too much pressure on kids who are under enough pressure at exam time. Parents should encourage their kids to do the best they can, not add to their stress levels. Emma

Children should value their education without it being monetised. My parents expected my brother and I to have the motivation, maturity and self-discipline to work hard for our GCSEs. We both achieved all As and A*s. Eliza 

When I was at school, from 1964-83, my parents never gave me money for good exam results, because "I should want to do well for myself". No matter what my grades were, they said that they would be proud of me if I had tried my best. Cash kills self-motivation. Nicola B 

National insurance was cut this month, for the second time this year, from 10% to 8% on employee earnings between £12,570 and £50,270.

The change, announced by the chancellor in his March budget, impacts around 27 million payroll employees across the UK - starting this pay day.

The cut is worth almost £250 to someone earning £25,000 a year and almost £750 for those earning £50,000

Use our tool below for a rough guide to what tax changes can be expected for most people, as there are other variables not included which might affect how much tax you pay including being in receipt of the blind person's allowance or the marriage allowance. It also assumes you are not self-employed and are under pension age...

There are also national insurance cuts for the self-employed. This includes the scrapping of Class 2 contributions, as well as a reduction of the rate of Class 4 contributions from 9% to 6% for the £12,570 to £50,270 earnings bracket.

These will impact nearly two million self-employed people, according to the Treasury.

While many campaigners welcomed the national insurance announcement last month, they pointed out that the tax burden remains at record high levels for Britons - thanks in part to the threshold at which people start paying income tax being frozen, rather than rising with inflation.

The money story of the week has been mortgage rates - with a host of major lenders announcing hikes amid fears the Bank of England may delay interest rate cuts.

Swap rates - which dictate how much it costs to lend money - have risen on the back of higher than expected US inflation data, and concerns this could delay interest rate cuts there. 

US trends often materialise elsewhere - though many economists are still expecting a base rate cut from 5.25% to 5% in the UK in June.

The reliable Bloomberg reported this week: "Still, while some economists have since scaled back their predictions for BOE cuts, most haven't changed expectations for a summer move.

"Analysts at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group, Capital Economics and Bloomberg Economics are all among those still anticipating a shift toward easing in June."

The publication also quoted Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank, as saying: "Markets have superimposed the US cycle on the UK, but the US and UK are on very different tracks.

"The UK is coming out of technical recession. Inflation is falling more convincingly. Pay settlements are following inflation expectations. And crucially, real policy rates in the UK will be higher than in the US."

None of this reassurance changes the fact that financial markets, which dictate swap rates, are pricing in delays.

This week's hikes came from Halifax, BM Solutions, TSB, NatWest, Virgin, Barclays, Accord, Leeds Building Society, HSBC and Coventry.

This is what average mortgage rates looked like as of Thursday...

The next Bank of England decision on rates comes on 9 May - and pretty much no one is expecting a cut from the 16-year high of 5.25% at that stage.

The Money blog is your place for consumer news, economic analysis and everything you need to know about the cost of living - bookmark news.sky.com/money.

It runs with live updates every weekday - while on Saturdays we scale back and offer you a selection of weekend reads.

Check them out this morning and we'll be back on Monday with rolling news and features.

The Money team is Emily Mee, Bhvishya Patel, Jess Sharp, Katie Williams, Brad Young and Ollie Cooper, with sub-editing by Isobel Souster. The blog is edited by Jimmy Rice.

The family home where Captain Sir Tom Moore walked 100 laps to raise nearly £40m for the NHS during the first COVID lockdown is up for sale for £2.25m.

The Grade II-listed Old Rectory is described as a "magnificent seven-bedroom property" by estate agents Fine & Country.

In a video tour of the house, a sculpture of Captain Tom with his walking frame can be seen in the hallway, while a photo of the fundraising hero being knighted by the Queen is on a wall in the separate coach house building.

Introducing the property, an estate agent says in the tour video: "I'm sure you'll recognise this iconic and very famous driveway behind me as it was home to the late Captain Sir Tom Moore who walked 100 laps of his garden, raising over £37m for NHS charities."

It comes less than three months after the demolition of an unauthorised spa pool block in the grounds of the property in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

Speaking at an appeal hearing over that spa, Scott Stemp, representing Captain Tom's daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, said the foundation named after the fundraising hero "is to be closed down" following a Charity Commission probe launched amid concerns about its management.

For the full story, click here ...

"Status symbol" pets are being given up by owners who get scared as they grow up, an animal charity has said, with the cost of living possibly paying a part in a rise in separations.

The Exotic Pet Refuge, which homes parrots, monkeys, snakes and alligators among others, says it receives referrals across the country, including from zoos and the RSPCA.

"They're a status symbol. People will say, 'OK, I'll have an alligator or a 10ft boa constrictor'," co-owner Pam Mansfield told the BBC.

"But when the animal gets big, they will get too frightened to handle them, and then the pet has to go."

She added people who want to get rid of the pets sometimes call zoos for help, which then call on her charity.

In some cases, owners don't have licences to own dangerous animals, she says, blaming a "lack of understanding" for what she says is a rise in the number of exotic animals needing to be rehomed.

She says people "just don't have the space" for some snakes, for example, with some growing to as much as 12ft and needing their own room.

The cost of living crisis has also forced owners to give their pets away, she says.

Her charity has also been affected by those increased costs, with the electricity bill rising to £10,000 a month at their highest, to fund things like heated pools for alligators.

Private car parks are accused of "confusing drivers" after introducing a new code of conduct - despite "doing all they can" to prevent an official government version.

The code of practice launched by two industry bodies - British Parking Association and the International Parking Community - includes a ten-minute grace period for motorists to leave a car park after the parking period they paid for ends.

It also features requirements for consistent signage, a single set of rules for operators on private land and an "appeals charter".

Private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees.

That comes after a government-backed code of conduct was withdrawn in June 2022, after a legal challenges by parking companies.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: "We're flabbergasted that the BPA and the IPC have suddenly announced plans to introduce their own private parking code after doing all they can over the last five years to prevent the official government code created by an act of Parliament coming into force.

"While there are clearly some positive elements to what the private parking industry is proposing, it conveniently avoids some of the biggest issues around caps on penalty charges and debt recovery fees which badly need to be addressed to prevent drivers being taken advantage of."

BPA chief executive Andrew Pester said: "This is a crucial milestone as we work closely with government, consumer bodies and others to deliver fairer and more consistent parking standards for motorists."

IPC chief executive Will Hurley said: "The single code will benefit all compliant motorists and will present clear consequences for those who decide to break the rules."

Sky News has learnt the owner of Superdry's flagship store is weighing up a legal challenge to a rescue plan launched by the struggling fashion retailer.

M&G, the London-listed asset manager, has engaged lawyers from Hogan Lovells to scrutinise the restructuring plan.

The move by M&G, which owns the fashion retailer's 32,000 square foot Oxford Street store, will not necessarily result in a formal legal challenge - but sources say it's possible.

Read City editor Mark Kleinman 's story here...

NatWest says its mortgage lending nearly halved at the start of the year as it retreated from parts of the market when competition among lenders stepped up.

New mortgage lending totalled £5.2bn in the first three months of 2024, the banking group has revealed, down from £9.9bn the previous year.

The group, which includes Royal Bank of Scotland and Coutts, also reported an operating pre-tax profit of £1.3bn for the first quarter, down 27% from £1.8bn the previous year.

An unexplained flow of British luxury cars into states neighbouring Russia continued into February, new data shows.

About £26m worth of British cars were exported to Azerbaijan, making the former Soviet country the 17th biggest destination for UK cars - bigger than long-established export markets such as Ireland, Portugal and Qatar.

Azerbaijan's ascent has coincided almost to the month with the imposition of sanctions on the export of cars to Russia.

Read the rest of economics and data editor Ed Conway 's analysis here...

Rishi Sunak has hailed the arrival of pay day with a reminder his government's additional National Insurance tax cut kicks in this month for the first time.

At last month's budget, the chancellor announced NI will be cut by a further 2p - so some workers will pay 8% of their earnings instead of the 12% if was before autumn.

The prime minister has repeated his claim this will be worth £900 for someone on the average UK salary.

While this additional cut - on top of the previous 2p cut in January - does equate to £900 for those on average full-time earnings of £35,000, there are two key issues with Mr Sunak's claim:

• Once the effect of all income tax changes since 2021 are taken into account, the Institute for Fiscal Studies reports an average earner will benefit from a tax cut of £340 - far less than £900;
• Moreover, anyone earning less than £26,000 or between £55,000-£131,000 will ultimately be worse off.

In short, this is because NI cuts are more than offset by other tax rises.

We explain below how this is the case...

Tax thresholds

This is partly down to tax thresholds - the amount you are allowed to earn before you start paying tax (and national insurance) and before you start paying the higher rate of tax - will remain frozen. 

This means people end up paying more tax than they otherwise would, when their pay rises with inflation but the thresholds don't keep up. 

This phenomenon is known as "fiscal drag" and it's often called a stealth tax because it's not as noticeable immediately in your pay packet.

That low threshold of £12,570 has been in place since April 2021. 

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Sultan Kudarat partners with Miss Universe, shows off tourism destinations, ‘inaul’ cloth

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• by Harlem Jude Ferolino
• Apr. 26, 2024 3:00 pm in News

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat (PIA) -- The province of Sultan Kudarat took center stage in this year's Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH) pageant as it became the official provincial partner.

Supported by Gov. Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu, the candidates for MUPH 2024 are in Sultan Kudarat this week, specifically for their tourism shoots, runway challenge, and national costume competition. 

Also, for the first time in the pageant’s history, MUPH will stage a fashion show using the traditional Maguindanao "inaul" cloth as material.

Kaharudin Dalaten, the chief of staff of the governor and the OIC provincial tourism officer, confirmed in a press conference on April 23 that Sultan Kudarat Province has been chosen as the provincial partner for Miss Universe Philippines 2024.

"We are glad to announce that we are the official provincial government partner for the Miss Universe Philippines 2024. Napakasaya [We’re very happy] and overwhelming that the Miss Universe Philippines has chosen Sultan Kudarat Province as its provincial partner," said Dalaten.

He further clarified that the 53 MUPH candidates have arrived in the province on April 24 and will stay until April 29 to hold their tourism shoot, which will feature Sultan Kudarat's premier tourism destinations, including the Bansada Agri-Eco Adventure Park in Bagumbayan, Halo-halo of Esperanza, Lutayan Lake in Lutayan, Baras Bird Sanctuary in Tacurong City, the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital and Provincial Capitol in Isulan, Pangadilan Rock Formation Falls, and La Palmera Mountain Ridge in Columbio.

“Based on the memorandum of agreement, Miss Universe Philippines will bring back to Sultan Kudarat the top three winning beauties for tourism shoots in other tourism hotspots in the province, including those in the coastal municipalities such as the Katunggan Coastal Eco Park,” Dalaten said.

When asked why Miss Universe Philippines Organization sought partnership with LGU Sultan Kudarat, Dalaten explained that this was due to the province's rich but barely known tourism products.

“ Alam natin na napakayaman ng probinsiya natin sa turismo [We know that our province is very rich in tourism]. We have so many tourism destinations worthy of promotion—our world-class caves, our mountain ridges, and other key tourism destinations. Sultan Kudarat has so much to offer, yet we are one of the most underrated destinations in the country,” he said, emphasizing further that one of the priorities of Gov. Mangudadatu is to intensify promotion of the province’s visitor industry offering.

“ Sabi ni Gov, hindi naman tayo mapapahiya dito kasi andaming world-class tourism offerings ang Sultan Kudarat. This time ma-showcase natin sa mga kandidata galing sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng Pilipinas and the world, Maganda, sabi ni Gov na ‘yong experience ay baon nila pagbalik sa kani-kanilang lugar at masasabi na once in their lives pumunta sila ng Sultan Kudarat at pumunta sila ng Mindanao. They will all be a living testimony that Mindanao is safe,” he said.

(The governor said we will not be embarrassed here because Sultan Kudarat has world-class tourism offerings. This time, we will be able to showcase candidates from different parts of the Philippines and the world. The governor expressed that the experience will be a treasure, allowing them to return to their respective places and proudly share that they once visited Sultan Kudarat and Mindanao.)

He added that the province's annual Miss Sultan Kudarat is also famous for staging one of the country's most elaborate and elegant pageant competitions, which is another reason for the province's selection as a MUPH partner.

Meanwhile, the fashion show featuring “inaul,” the traditional colorful and intricately designed cloth woven by Maguindanaon women, will highlight the cultural and historical significance and its importance to the people in the area, “how inaul has changed lives, how inaul created impact on the weavers and stores that sell these, and how inaul portrays Maguindanao provinces and the rest of the Cotabato Empire.”

At least 15 local designers will dress the candidates with their “inaul” creations. A local make-up artist will also take care of the candidates.

Dalaten revealed that entry to all the MUPH events, namely the Runway Challenge on April 26, the Inaul Fashion Show on April 27, and the National Costume on April 28, is free of charge. The Sultan Kudarat Gymnasium and Cultural Center, in addition to the Provincial Capitol grounds, will be used as the venues for these events.

To secure the MUPH candidates, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police have comprehensively laid out security measures for the location of shoots and events, according to Second District Board Member Soriel Lib-atin.

The Miss Universe candidates and party are also expected to savor the coffee from Sultan Kudarat. Proposals are underway to officially designate the province as the "Coffee Capital of the Philippines." 

Miss Universe Philippines is the second major event that the provincial government of Sultan Kudarat hosts this year.

In February, Sultan Kudarat Province hosted the largest Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair, where over P1.2 billion worth of services and benefits were provided to over 300,000 individuals. (DED - PIA Region 12)

• Miss Universe Philippines
• Sultan Kudarat

About the Author

Harlem Jude Ferolino

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