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CEBU CITY, Philippines Dec. 21 (NNN-PNA) - Cebu"s tourism industry proved its resiliency in 2009 amid the global economic crisis, with the province regaining its lead position as the most visited destination in the country by the third quarter of the year.
The increase in domestic tourist arrivals despite a decrease in foreign arrivals also helped the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) earn P1 billion in gross revenue collections for the first time as of November 30.
MCIA general manager Danilo Augusto Francia said domestic flights went up by 30 to 40 percent, compensating for the fewer international flights.
In fact, the increase in gross revenue from the January to November period is higher by 30 percent compared to that of the entire year in 2008 because of the domestic flights of Cebu Pacific, PAL Express, Zest Air and Philippine Airlines," Francia said.
These airlines have brought the prices so low that even those who are traveling by ship before are now shifting to air travel, at the same cost or even lower expense," he added.
According to the Department of Tourism (DOT) 7, Cebu"s total visitors from January to September reached 1.24 million, reflecting a 1.8 percent increase from 1.21 million visitors in the first nine months last year.
Cebu ranked as the second most visited destination in the country in the second quarter this year.
But Cebu regained the lead position in the third quarter, with the province receiving 566,278 foreign and domestic tourists, which is 239,451 more than the number posted by Camarines Sur, the most visited destination in the second quarter.
The DOT attributed this increase to the opening of new tourism destinations, products and facilities.
The DOT also cited increased flight frequencies of major airlines from Manila and other islands in the Visayas and Mindanao to Cebu and the expansion in air access to major tourist markets, including China.
DOT records show that Cebu has the highest number of domestic and foreign visitors in the third quarter this year. Within the period, the province received 163,175 foreign tourists and 403,103 domestic tourists.
Camarines Sur, which went from first in the second quarter to second in the following quarter, recorded 59,433 foreign and 267,394 domestic tourists.
The DOT attributed this to Camarines Surs major events such as the International Kite Boarding Competition, World Wakeboarding /Competition, Ironman Run and the International Dragon Boat Competition.
The other most visited destinations in the Philippines within the first nine months of the year were Boracay (558,401 visitors); Baguio City (530,706); Davao City (514,611); National Capital Region (436,558); Zambales (246,429); Bohol (238,745); Oriental Mindoro (215,755); and Palawan (195,134).
During the first nine months this year, the number of domestic tourists increased by 21 percent to 6.5 million, while foreign arrivals increased by 2.7 percent to 1.5 million.
This performance positioned the tourism industry for greater growth in the fourth quarter," said the DOT in a statement.
The DOT is seeing a brighter year ahead, especially after the Philippines was recently included in National Geographic"s list of 25 Best New Trips for 2010.
The DOT also cited the World Travel Market"s tourism barometer, which showed international tourists arrivals to have declined in all world regions in the first eight months of 2009.
The same report, however, also shows that Asia and the Pacific showed "the clearest signs of improvement with growth already positive."
Francia of MCIA said the number of international flights is very low because of the global recession.
Very clearly, from January to June 2009, we experienced minus nine percent growth. But for June and up to November, this negative percentage is slowly disappearing,” he said.
MCIAA, Francia said, now ranks fifth in good governance among all the Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs).
We are the first in any department that has come into the top GOCCs. The top four are always the financial institutions. But we always embarked on good governance practices, which is about eradicating or minimizing corruption by systematic allocation of resources, among others," he said.
Airports have connected countries and made world travel easier to do.
When one airport goes out of bound, travel in the whole world will be affected, and this is why the International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao) has always been supervising all the airports that are going down below the level that is required," he said.
Francia said the country has just organized the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines from the defunct Air Transportation Office.
There are difficulties, he added, but things are slowly fitting into their proper places under the guidance of ICAO consultants. - NNN-PNA |
