THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is projecting visitor arrivals in Western Visayas to reach 5.5 million in 2017, or an increase of about 5.8 percent from last year’s 5.2 million arrivals.
Lawyer Helen Catalbas, DOT regional director for Region 6 (Western Visayas), told the BusinessMirror the increase in visitor arrivals can be attributed to the continuing influx of tourists to the resort island of Boracay.
The cumulative increase for 2017 is an apparent slowdown, however, from the 2016 arrivals that grew by almost 8.3 percent from 4.8 million in 2015. But Catalbas said, “This year’s increase of around 300,000 is already quite huge for a region that has a room capacity of almost 28,000. Each year, the increase in visitor arrivals is between 300,000 and 400,000.”
Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said Western Visayas offers a diverse array of attractions that would pique the interest of foreign or local tourists. “Western Visayas is popular for Boracay; but that’s not all. Region 6 has so much to offer for all types of visitors. They have batchoy and the sweetest mangoes [in Iloilo and Guimaras] for those into food trips, and there’s the Ati-Atihan [Aklan] for those who are seeking exotic festivities,” she said in a news statement.
Capiz is known as the seafood capital of the Philippines, while Antique is home to the rafflesia, the biggest and stinkiest flower in the world. Negros Occidental is famous for the Masskara festival, and hosts a number of heritage homes.
The region is currently featured at the showroom of the DOT building in Makati City, and shows the destinations, native crafts and farm produce from all its provinces. “Region 6 has a teeming tourism product portfolio that includes nature-based tourism, ecotourism, sun and beach, diving and marine sports and cruise and nautical. It is also a showcase of culture and heritage, pilgrimage, leisure and entertainment, MICE [meetings incentives conventions and exhibitions], education, culinary, and farm tourism,” Teo said.
The tour packages being offered onsite include the Iloilo heritage and mystery tours, island adventure and escapade tours of Guimaras, Capiz, Antique, Aklan and Negros, as well as back-to-back trips with the island-towns of Carles, Ajuy-Concepcion and the Gigantes group of islands. Tour packages consist of land and sea tourist transports, entrance fees, accredited tour guides and typical Ilonggo meals and snacks.
Tourism Undersecretary Alma Rita Jimenez explained that with cross-selling of tourist destinations, localities become partners in tourism development by “sharing and exchanging” visitors.
For her part, Catalbas also revealed that Western Visayas is a major contributor to the country’s tourist arrivals, noting that it is the only region with two international airports (Kalibo and Iloilo) and three domestic airports (Caticlan in Aklan, Roxas in Capiz and San Jose de Buenavista in Antique). Negros Occidental has the Bacolod-Silay International Airport.
As a featured guest during the opening of the Western Visayas exhibit, fashion designer Nono Palmos presented his Island Dreams, a show centering on his advocacy for the preservation and development of hablon, an indigenous textile which originated in his Miag-ao hometown in Iloilo in the mid-1800s. Hablon, which is handwoven from abaca, pineapple and polyester fibers with cotton strands, has been treasured as an heirloom fabric and exported to other countries.
In 2016 Aklan contributed the largest chunk of visitor arrivals in the region, leading all provinces with 1.9 million arrivals. This was followed by the provinces of Negros Occidental with 1.65 million; Iloilo with 1.25 million; Capiz with 190,276; Guimaras with 107,214; and Antique with 63,613.
Western Visayas generated almost P115 billion in visitor receipts last year, up 21 percent from P95 billion in 2015. Aklan also accounted for the largest amount of visitor receipts in 2016 at P53 billion; followed by Negros Occidental at P32 billion; Iloilo at P23 billion; Capiz at P3.52 billion; Guimaras at P1.98 billion; and Antique at P1.27 billion.
Image credits: Department of Tourism