FOREIGN and domestic tourist arrivals in Central Visayas grew 4.78 percent in the first quarter this year even though six of the region’s top 10 international travel markets posted negative arrival rates during the period.
“We are still fortunate here since we were able to post growth.
But in other areas, they are posting negative rates already,” said Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 Director Patria Aurora Roa yesterday during the 888 News Forum.
Arrivals from the Korean market—which remained to be the biggest travel market of the region, accounting for a 20.85 percent share—dropped to 46,758 in the first quarter this year compared to 54, 092 in the same period last year.Roa said the depreciation of the Korean won—as a result of the global financial crisis—is a main factor in the decline of
Korean arrivals in the region.
Aside from Koreans, arrivals from Taiwan, Japan, United States, Germany and Australia also declined.
Based on data from DOT, travelers from Saudi Arabia posted a notable increase of 319.29 percent in the first quarter of this year, from 1,410 in the same period in 2008 to 5,912 for the first quarter this year. This helped bring total foreign arrivals to 224,263 from 216,704 in the first quarter of 2008, or an increase of 3.49 percent.
More Chinese
Tourist arrivals from China also posted an increase of nearly 60 percent to 13,104 in the first quarter from 8,241 in the first quarter last year. In the same period, arrivals from Hong Kong also grew by 12.28 percent, to 7,390 this year from 6,582 last
year.
Roa said the increase in foreign arrivals from Hong Kong and China is a result of marketing efforts made by the DOT in the last five years. “Our efforts finally paid off,” Roa said.
The growth in terms of tourist arrivals was also made possible by “strong” domestic tourism in Central Visayas, she added.
The number of inter-island travelers in Central Visayas reached 333,993 in the first three months of this year, a 5.67-percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Cebu remained to be the top destination for domestic tourists, with 237,449 arrivals, accounting for more than 71 percent of the region’s total market share. Bohol came in next with 47,526 domestic arrivals while Negros Oriental closely followed with 46,499. Siquijor was able to get 2,519 domestic tourists at the end of the first quarter.
Cebu is also the top province in the region in terms of foreign arrivals, getting 82.40 percent or 184,790 of Central Visayas’ total market share. Bohol received 24,350 international tourists while Negros Oriental and Siquijor account for 11,861 and 3,262 foreign tourists, respectively.
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