16,000 tourists flock Sipalay on Holy Week

CONSIDERED as one of the major tourist destinations in Negros Occidental particularly for white sand beaches and resorts, Sipalay City has catered to almost 16,000 tourists during the Holy Week.

Data obtained from Sipalay City Tourism Office showed that an estimated 10,900 day tourists visited six major beach areas in the city from April 18 to 21.

The tourism office noted 1,900 day tourists on Maundy Thursday and 2,600 on Good Friday.

The figures increased to 3,400 on Black Saturday and slightly decreased to about 3,000 on Easter Sunday.

For overnight tourists, the tourism office reported about 5,020 guests for four days.

The southern Negros Occidental city has a total room capacity of 1,600. Of which, 90 percent were booked.

Thus, there were 4,320 overnight guests who visited Sipalay for three days, from April 18 to 20.

Like the day tourists, the number of overnight guests also dropped to about a half on Easter Sunday.

Jerick Lacson, city tourism officer, said like the day tourists, overnight guests from Bacolod City and other localities in the north came home on Sunday as work resumes today.

Though, local tourists from nearby areas in the south like upland barangays are still expected to flock the city’s resorts.

Lacson said 20 percent of the overnight tourists are foreigners mostly staying at Sugar Beach. Of whom, 90 percent are Europeans.

“The Holy Week has provided direct income to the tourism establishments especially resorts, accommodation facilities and restaurants,” he said, adding that influx of tourists normally peaks during this period.

According to the front desk personnel of various resorts, rooms were already reserved for Holy Week as early as January and Februay.

For other peak seasons like summer, the city tourism office records an average of 800 to 1,000 day tourists on weekdays and 1,000 to 1,500 during weekends.

On normal days, only 500 to 800 day tourists are visiting Sipalay depending on weather.

Given its beaches and various water-related activities like swimming, snorkeling and diving, the city is one of the summer destination hotspots of the province and Western Visayas.

In terms of indirect effects, the influx of tourists are also benefiting the locals especially farmers, fisherfolk and local small businesses.

Lacson said as the number of tourists increases, the demand for resources such as food and other services also increases.

He said their tricycle tour guides were able to offer tour services which resulted in added income aside from their driving services.

“Our pumpboat operators also benefited a lot as island hopping is a major activity here in Sipalay,” he added.

Moreover, measures to ensure the safety of the visitors during the entire Holy Week were strictly implemented.

For accommodation establishments, all resorts with beachfront and swimming pools were required to have their lifeguards as provided under the City Tourism Code.

Pumpboat operators were also required to have basic life support and water safety trainings, on top of the training on wildlife interaction.

For the city government, it activated the Operation Plan Summer Vacation (Oplan SumVac).

It established 13 Oplan SumVac assistance desks all over the city and six tourism and emergency assistance desks in various beaches.

No drowning incident was reported in the city during the entire observance of the Holy Week.