Domestic market raises tourist arrivals in region

CEBU, Philippines - The more active domestic market that travels from different destinations in the country, including Cebu is the key to the 5.4 percent increase of domestic arrivals to Region 7 in the first nine months of this year.

Latest report from the Department of Tourism (DOT-7) revealed that a total of 748,861 domestic tourists visited the region for the period, a 5.4 percent increase from the 710,763 recorded in the same period of last year. 

“The domestic travelers have been a key market for the Philippines especially with the onset of the global financial crisis where international market was slow,” said Tourism Undersecretary for Special Concerns Phineas Alburo.

Alburo credited the positive development in the domestic tourism activities to the active promotions of the Department on Cebu’s leisure market.

He said aside from the province’s white beaches and world class resorts, the DOT has also positioned Cebu as a destination for island hopping, bird watching, diving, kayaking and other adventure activities.

This year, despite the perceived financial difficulties, more Filipinos are traveling in the intra-country destination, and Cebu is among those on the “top of the list” among Filipino travelers.

Unlike other popular destinations like Bohol, Siargao, Palawan and Boracay, Cebu offers different flavor as a destination, “Cebu has always been a world class destination among domestic and foreign travelers,” he said.

As projected in the earlier part of this year, foreign arrivals in the region registered a slight decline of 3.4 percent.

From January to September of this year DOT record showed that there were only a total of 484,341 foreign tourists who visited the region, a 3.4 percent decrease from 501.372 recorded in the same period of 2008.

Cebu’s top three tourist markets include Korea, Japan, and US, posted a drop in the volume of tourists.

The number of Korean arrivals in Cebu during the period dipped by a whopping 14.73 percent. From a total of 164,549 Koreans visiting the region in the first eight months of 2008, it went down to 140,351 Korean arrivals as reflected in the same period this year.

Likewise, volume of Japanese arrivals also went down by 3.97 percent from 110,007 in the same period last year to 105,642 this year. 

Arrivals from the United States also dropped by 14.47 percent, from 51,956 Americans visiting the region in the first nine months of 2008 to 44,436 in the same period this year.

“The global financial crisis has affected several economies, including Korea, which is Cebu’s top tourist market,” he said.

Because of weak activities of the global traveling market, DoT has invested on promotions to push the domestic market, while cultivating other emerging markets like Europe and China, among others.