Tourist arrivals in Centtral Visayas hit 6.9 million last year

CEBU, Philippines — Tourist arrivals in Central Visayas hit approximately 6.9 million last year, the Department of Tourism reported, citing Cebu as the region's top travel hub.

The 2017 tourist count surpassed the region's 6.3-million target for the said year and posted a 17.13 percent growth from the 2016 arrivals.

The active movement of the Filipinos travelling to different destinations in the Philippines has benefited Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas region, as domestic travelers dominate the arrival volume of 58.33 percent with 4 million visiting the four provinces in the region, namely Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

DOT regional director Shalimar Tamano has been bullish on his outlook on the region's tourism industry considering the modernization of airports in Cebu and Bohol.

"The two airports (Mactan Airport's Terminal 2 and Bohol's New Panglao Airport) will be operational this year," the official had said.

He said the opening of these airports will bring in more visitors into the region.

The region's top tourism market is still Korea, with the highest number of tourist population, noted to be 895,776 in total; followed by China with a volume of 429,306 and has a highest growth rate among the top ten markets; Japan with 408,566; and USA with 219,796.

Moreover, the DOT-7 also recorded a total of 71,739 visitors coming from Taiwan; Australia came in sixth with 71,724; Germany with 58,432, followed by France with 50,257, and the United Kingdom with 49,484, and finally, Canada comes in tenth with 43,084 registered tourists.

Among the major tourist hubs in Central Visayas is Cebu City, which was noted to rake in majority of the visitor arrivals.

DOT-7 also noted the tourist influx can be attributed to the increase of direct international commercial and chartered flights to Cebu from other countries.

Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu City, Panglao, Dumaguete City and Tagbilaran City also recorded a competitive number of tourist arrivals.

Cebu and Bohol have become a choice venue for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), including the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings last year.

The DOT and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), together with the local government units (LGUs), have implemented a massive promotions run on the region, thus resulting into a strong social media presence, which gave stakeholders a platform for promoting their own products.

The implementation of the Tourism Road Infrastructure Projects (TRIP) has since provided greater access to tourist sites in the region.

"The tourism industry in the region was also further strengthened as the DOT ensured the execution of trainings and workshops for LGUs and private stakeholders, on the diversification of tourism product offerings," the DOT said in a statement. (FREEMAN)