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Thursday, February 24, 2005
Cebu gets 1M visitors; record year for RP tourism
THE year 2004 was a banner year for tourism for both the Philippines in general and Cebu in particular.
Counting both local and foreign visitors, Cebu marked a milestone when it received a total of one million visitors last year.
The Philippines also had reason to celebrate after Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano said its foreign visitor arrivals of 2.291 million surpassed the previous all-time high of 2.2 million foreign visitors recorded by the country in 1997.
According to records from the Department of Tourism (DOT), the country’s foreign tourist arrivals grew 20.1 percent from 1.907 million in 2003.
The country’s top foreign markets were the United States, which accounted for 21 percent of foreign arrivals; Japan, 16.7 percent; Korea, 16.5 percent; Hong Kong, 7.1 percent; and Taiwan, five percent.
The increases could be attributed in part to the low base in 2003 when the Iraq war and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome scare pummeled travel.
But continued efforts to promote the country could also be a factor.
The year 2003 was Visit Philippines Year.
This World Tourism Organization-endorsed program saw the international airing of the “More than the Usual” ads on the Philippines and the launch of the WOW (Wealth of Wonders) Philippines program designed to attract both foreign and local tourists.
Cebu played host to 15 percent of the foreign travelers who came to the Philippines in 2004.
According to the DOT Central Visayas Office, the province received 351,209 visitors last year, up 19 percent from the 295,674 foreign visitors who descended on the island paradise in 2003.
Cebu also saw an 11.75 percent increase in the number of domestic travelers to 660,928.
Counting both foreign and domestic travelers, the province received 1.012 million visitors in 2004, up 14 percent from the 887,115 it received in 2004.
The prospects are even better for Cebu this year, with the DOT head office to be transferred to a building at the Ecotech Center in Lahug, Cebu within the first three months of the year.
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has committed to help the DOT bring five million tourists a year into the country, and Cebu, by 2010.
Korea was Cebu’s top source of foreign tourists in 2004, accounting for 29.20 percent of foreign tourists to the province. It was followed closely by Japan, with 28.97 percent.
But as early as this summer, more Koreans are expected. DOT Regional Director Patria Aurora Roa said Korean Airlines has arranged for twice a week charter flights between Cebu and Korea.
This is in addition to the three-times weekly Cebu-Seoul flights by Philippine Airlines, said Chris Lebumfacil, PAL manager for passenger sales-Visayas.
To keep the tourists coming to the Philippines, tourism chief Durano said: “Government will spend $3 billion in tourism infrastructure in the next six years.”
The money will go toward the building and upgrading of airports, roads and seaports. (CTL)
(February 24, 2005 issue)
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