In first half of 2013: Tourist traffic in CV exceeds target

CEBU, Philippines - Tourist arrivals in Central Visayas have continued to soar, as performance for the first six months of this year has already surpassed half of its target for 2013.

Latest record from the Department of Tourism (DOT-7) revealed that the region’s arrival traffic hit 14.78 percent growth from January to June this year to 1.7 million, more than half of the 2.6 million target arrivals for this year.

DOT-7 regional director Rowena Montecillo said that in the same period last year, the region had only hit 1.49 million arrival performance.

The active movement of Filipinos traveling to different destinations in the Philippines has benefited Cebu and the rest of the Central Visayas region, as domestic travelers dominate the arrival volume of 60 percent with 1.05 million visiting the four provinces in the region, namely Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.

The record further showed that South Korean nationals remain to be the largest foreign tourist group that visited the region within the period, with a total of 257,998 arrivals recorded, a 27.8 percent growth compared to the same period in 2012.

Arrival of Japanese nationals grew by 9.07 percent for the period to a total of 98,851, compared to only 90,629 Japanese visiting the region in the first semester of last year.

Taiwanese arrival registered the biggest growth rate of 82.49 percent this year with now 25,539 from only 13,995 last year.

According to Montecillo, the department is currently busy preparing for two upcoming major events: the World Ecotourism Forum this November and the hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit that will start in December next year.

"The most urgent is the 5th World Ecotourism Forum that Cebu will be hosting this November. We consider this a key event because Cebu will be put in the map for ecotourism which is the trend now," Montecillo said.

At least 400 delegates from 150 member countries and 400 affiliate organizations of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) are expected to come to Cebu for the event, she said.

Meanwhile, Cebu and Bohol are among the four pilot areas for a US$7.1 million technical assistance on improving tourism competitiveness grant from the Government of Canada.

Montecillo said that Cebu, Bohol, Davao and Palawan are the four pilot areas identified for the ADB-CIDA Technical Assistance on Improving Competitiveness in Tourism.

The $7.1 million grant is intended to help boost industry competitiveness which includes skills training programs for the private sector, local government units, civil society as well as DOT agencies, according to Montecillo.

"Also included is the pilot implementation of the new system of accreditation and the development of standards for service quality," said Montecillo.

With the MOA already signed by the Canadian International Development Agency, Asian Development Bank as the administering agency and DOT, Montecillo said that the guidelines are currently being drafted for implementation within the year up to 2016.

"I'm glad that of the four pilot areas, two (Cebu and Bohol) are from Central Visayas. This will really help the industry in the region especially that we are among the most popular destinations in the country today," said Montecillo.

Cebu and Bohol are considered key destinations in the country that should be looked into for more improvement as they are currently attracting more tourists. /JMD (FREEMAN)