Foreign tourist arrivals in Cebu increase 11.33%

CEBU, Philippines - Tourist arrivals in Cebu rose by 11.33 percent with South Korea again contributing the most number of foreign visitors in the first eight months of 2011.

Records of the Department of Tourism-Regional Office said a total of 1,313,316 foreigners visited Cebu from January to August this year compared to 1,179,699 in the same period last year.

DOT regional director Rowena Montecillo said South Korea is the country’s leading source of tourists, accounting for 44.49 percent or 250,353 tourists in the first seven months.

Other major tourist sources are the Association of Southeast Nations, East Asia, South Asia, America, Oceania, Europe and Middle East.

Japan and the United States followed with 106,946 tourists or 19.01 percent and 50,613 tourists or 9 percent, respectively.

The volume of visitors from Hong Kong dropped with negative 52.57 percent and the People’s Republic of China with negative 44.19 percent after a travel ban following a hostage-taking incident in Manila last year.

But Montecillo said Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas are expected to recover after learning that many Hong Kong tourists will be coming here before the yearend.

“We invited them several times but they did not response to our invitation. Right now, the some officials from DOT-Manila and 10 private sector representatives, which eight of them are from Cebu, are now in Hong Kong,” Montecillo said.

As part of the tourism campaign, Montecillo led the launching of the Tourism and Heritage Information Network or THINK-7, which aims to promote tourism in Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas.

Montecillo said the THINK-7 will be a network composed of business, opinion, region and travel writers and reporters from the local mainstream media.

“The more important task in the immediate future is leveraging these tourism assets to attract more tourists. This invariably means marketing abroad. But it is also a reality today that travelers often use Google to learn more about potential destinations they have heard through advertising efforts and by word of mouth,” Montecillo said.

While many journalists and bloggers use the Internet, the DOT believes that there is a need to maximize the online publications and the social media.

The DOT already tapped media personalities to be included in the steering committee for the program’s formation. (FREEMAN)