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Tourists Arrival, Holding Steady in Dumaguete

Mon, 24 September 2007 04:29:33 – TheDane

For the first five months of 2007, the tourist arrival rate in Dumaguete city has remained almost the same, albeit with minor fluctuations and variations for each month. This is according to the records of the City Tourism Office of Dumaguete City.

Dumaguete city has always been a prime tourist destination in the Philippines and the figures show it remains that way this year. The capital city of Negros Oriental enjoyed a steady stream of tourists from different countries, most of which are American nationals who has remained on top of the list of foreign nationals who visit Dumaguete city each year.

Next in the list were the South Koreans, which were followed by the Japanese and Australians, with tourists from the United Kingdom and France rounding out the list of the top six foreign nationalities who visited Dumaguete city during the first five months of this year.

The total number of recorded and registered tourists from the months of January to May this year amounted to 67,550. The month of May saw the arrival of 14,724 tourists – the greatest number of tourist arrivals for the first five months of the year. January had 12,924 tourist arrivals, which gently rose to 13,583 in the month of February. The number of arrivals dropped slightly in March, with 13,543 registered tourists. The lowest level was recorded in April and this number amounted to 12,776 tourist arrivals.

Records also indicate that during that same five month period, registrations for 2,140 American tourists were recorded. This was followed by 1,494 South Korean tourists and 1,189 Japanese.

The officer in charge of tourism in Dumaguete city – Jaybee Aquino -gladly commended President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her efforts to increase and supplement the current tourism promotions by pushing for a more solid infrastructure foundation.

These were all in accordance with Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address that occurred last Monday, July 23. Included in her speech was a line that stated the airport in Dumaguete city was already set up for expansion.

Aquino also stated that the construction and development of more roll on roll off ports (commonly referred to as RORO ports) and airports in the Philippines will increase the accessibility of more tourist destinations. This in turn will provide more tour packages for tourists to pick from and will also serve as a bridge between one tourist area to the next.