Eco-tourism sites' declaration sought

DUMAGUETE CITY , Philippines   â€” Negros Oriental 2nd district Rep. George Arnaiz had filed bills for the declaration of the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes in Sibulan town and the caves in Mabinay town, as eco-tourism destinations.

Arnaiz said the House committee on environment, upon sponsorship of Rep. Pryde Henry Teves (3rd district), had already approved his bills and he expected these to be passed in the plenary and later in the Senate.

Once these are officially declared as eco-tourism destinations, the national government can now focus on the development of these sites that will in turn boost the socio-economic landscape of these towns and the province as well.

Presently, the national government has allocated an additional P50-million for the tourism road leading to Balinsasayao while another P100-million was given for the tourism road to the Mabinay Caves, Arnaiz said, but he added that the fund may not be enough for more development projects in these areas.

Meanwhile, the capital city of Dumaguete has achieved an 89.3 percent tourism influx growth rate last year, with a total of 393,718 tourists registered for that year as opposed to 214,052 in 2012.

Emaleen Franz Maputi, tourism operations assistant, quoted City Tourism Officer Woodrow Maquiling, Jr. on Thursday as saying that one of the reasons why the city achieved this growth was an increase in the number of tourism arrivals due to numerous national conventions and sporting events in this city.

Official records showed that last year the overall number of foreigners who visited Dumaguete totaled 47,919 compared to also 26,504 in the previous year, or a growth rate of 80.8 percent, said Maquiling. 

The month of March recorded the highest number of foreign tourist arrivals at 5,612 opposite to the month of month of October of the same year with only 1,837 foreign visitors, the City Tourism Office said.

Visitors from the United States topped the list of tourists in Dumaguete last year, followed by those from Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Korea, France, China, and Switzerland.

On local tourists, Dumaguete marked an increase of 89.7 percent arrival growth in 2013 with a total of 344,810 visitors compared to only 181,781 in 2012.

The month of April had the most number of local tourists at 41,246 while October had the least at 25,444.  (FREEMAN)