Growth in tourist arrivals in central, north Luzon cited

MANILA, Philippines - Improved infrastructure, principally, modern roadways like the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), lead to hefty growth rates in tourism-driven visitor arrivals in central and north Luzon.

Central Luzon Tourism director Ronnie Tiotuico said the NLEX has contributed substantially to the growth of travel and tourism in the north.

Tiotuico made the observation following the disclosure of visitor arrival figures covering regions north of Metro Manila, indicating an unprecedented growth following the opening of the modernized NLEX in 2005.

“It’s MNTC (Manila North Tollways Corp.) and other private stakeholders and associations in the region that supported the development of tourism in this part of the country. It’s a collaboration of various forces made possible through an integration of efforts and resources,” said Tiotuico.

Department of Tourism (DOT) records show that the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) turned around its tourism industry in terms of visitor arrival growth rate (VAGR) from negative 42.69 percent in 2000-2004 to positive 35.88 percent in 2005-2010.

CAR had about 1.2 million visitor arrivals in 2010 compared to 650,000 in 2004, which was the region’s lowest since 2000.

Not to be outdone, even the Ilocos region came out strong in its VAGR, registering 40.74 percent in 2005-2010 compared to negative 18.83 percent in the pre-NLEX years (2000-2004). The region had 400,000 visitor arrivals in 2010 from 250,000 in 2004.

Central Luzon, being the most accessible to the 90-kilometer tollway, experienced a huge 52.74 percent increase in VAGR in 2005-2010 compared to only 18.57 percent in 2000-2004, according to the DOT.

The region had 600,000 visitor arrivals in 2010 from 280,000 in 2004.

“More and more people, especially from Metro Manila, now travel to the central and northern provinces largely due to the seamless journey offered by the integrated NLEX-SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway) and the intensive tourism promotion campaign conducted by the DOT in collaboration with industry players,” said Rodrigo Franco, president of MNTC, the builder and concessionaire of the NLEX.

“We are committed to provide modern road networks as a linchpin of social and economic growth,” Franco said.