NEGROS Occidental, including Bacolod City, ranked second in terms of number of tourist arrivals with almost P32 billion in tourism receipts in 2016, reports from the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Western Visayas showed.
Almost 1.65 million domestic and foreign tourists visited the province last year. The figure is 14 percent higher than the almost 1.42 million arrivals in 2015.
For Bacolod City alone, the DOT reported tourist arrivals of 799,224 last year, which is 14.33 percent higher than 2015’s 699,061. Iloilo, the other highly-urbanized city in Western Visayas, recorded only 252,323 tourists.
Overall, Negros Occidental and Bacolod City comprised almost 32 percent of the total tourist arrivals in Western Visayas, next to Aklan with 1.9 million mainly because of Boracay Island.
Iloilo, including its capital Iloilo City, has total tourist arrivals of almost 1.25 million; Capiz, 190,276; Guimaras, 107,214; and Antique, 63,613.
Negros Occidental, although now under the Negros Island Region, is still covered by DOT-Western Visayas in terms of the agency’s program and project implementation.
DOT-Western Visayas Regional Administrative Officer Artemio Ticar, designated tourism area development head for Negros Occidental, Sunday, April 9, said the province has been a potential producer of tourists, mainly due to its “complete package” tourism offerings.
He said that aside from various tourist attractions, from beaches to mountain resorts, visitors are also attracted to other tourism products of Negros Occidental like food, capability to handle guests, hospitability of the people, and its rich history and culture.
“Sugar is one of the province’s consistent attractions,” Ticar said, adding that being the largest producer of sugar in the country, Negros Occidental attracts tourists interested to discover how the commodity is being processed into something they can experience.
In terms of tourist receipts, or the value spent by tourists during their stay in the region, the DOT reported that Western Visayas has generated almost P115 billion last year.
Aklan still topped the ranking with almost P53 billion, or about P21 billion higher than Negros Occidental, which is in second place.
Iloilo ranked third with about P23 billion worth of receipts, leaving Capiz with P3.52 billion; Guimaras, P1.98 billion; and Antique, P1.27 billion.
To further boost the province’s tourist arrivals for bigger revenues, Negros Occidental needs to have better connectivity.
Ticar said there is a need to improve the province’s transportation facilities like the airport to enable it to cater to international flights.
“The number of foreign tourists coming to the province will significantly increase if Bacolod-Silay Airport is capable of having direct international flights,” he said.
The DOT is also coordinating with other government agencies like the Department of Transportation and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the development of additional tourism roads in the province.
These roads are positioned to boost accessibility among tourism destinations, it added.
Ticar said there are pending proposals to develop road connectivity between cities of Bacolod and Talisay, particularly in the coastal side, and Bago City proper going to Rafael Salas Park and Nature Center in Barangay Ilijan.
“DPWH’s engineering districts in the province and concerned local government units are the ones identifying the potential road projects which are then being evaluated by the DOT,” he added.
