THE Provincial Tourism Office (PTO) of Negros Occidental is banking on the development of the province’s agriculture sector in further boosting the tourism industry.
Cristine Mansinares, provincial supervising tourism operations officer, said agri-tourism is currently one of the emerging sectors which the province, given its potential, may take advantage.
“Aside from biodiversity and climate change, one of the major concerns of tourists now are health and wellness,” she said, adding that this is an area which the provincial government will focus on to reach its target 15 percent increase on tourist arrivals this year.
Based on its partial data, PTO reported earlier that almost 727,000 foreign and domestic tourists visited the province, excluding Bacolod City, in 2016.
This is about two percent higher than the 712,083 visitors in 2015.
Of the arrivals, domestic tourists comprised the bulk at 694,134 while foreigners totaled 18,120, and overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and balikbayans reached 14,586.
The figures are still expected to increase as 20 percent of the reports have yet to be submitted by other local government units (LGUs) this week.
Mansinares said they noted an increase in the number of tourists doing benchmarkings in Negros Occidental in terms of farm tourism last year aside from those catered by beaches and resorts.
Among the most-visited agri-tourism sites in the province last year were the Peñalosa Farm in Victorias City, May’s Organic Garden in Bacolod City, and Rapha Valley in Salvador Benedicto.
On Friday, Mansinares said they visited some farm tourism sites in Bacolod City along with various tour operators, followed by out-of-town visits over the weekend.
The province is also planning to build farm villages among areas identified by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist as potential agri-tourism destinations, Mansinares said.
“Through this community-based tourism promotion initiative, farmers will run the tourism activities in the area,” she said, adding that “agriculture is one solution that could address industry needs if we do it the right way.”