CV tourist arrivals up 10.68% to 4.39 million

• Source: http://www.philstar.com/cebu-business/2017/01/21/1664560/cv-tourist-arrivals-10.68-4.39-million
• Saturday, January 21, 2017 12:00 am

By Carlo S. Lorenciana (The Freeman)

CEBU, Philippines - Tourist arrivals in Central Visayas from January to October of 2016 saw a 10.68 percent growth to 4.39 million, nearing the Department of Tourism's 5.8 million target this year.

Cebu accounted for bulk of the tourist count in Central Visayas region which stood at 4.39 million in the first 10 months of 2016, up from 3.97 million in the same period in 2015.

Official data furnished by DOT-7 showed that Cebu's domestic tourists during the period reached 1.72 million

While foreign tourists who visited the island reached 1.5 million.

Cebu's domestic and foreign travelers accounted for 68 percent and 80 percent, respectively, of the total recorded in Central Visayas.

In Region 7, the number of domestic visitors during the ten-month period recorded a 11.70 percent to 2.55 million from 2.28 million in 2016.

Foreign tourists also grew 9.66 percent to 1.83 million from 1.67 million.

Cebu accounted for 67 percent of the region's domestic tourists and 82 percent of its foreign visitors.

Korea remained the region's top source of foreign tourists, accounting for 43.25 percent of the total foreign market.

It was followed by Japan, China, USA, Australia, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and Canada.

CHINESE AND JAPANESE TOURISTS

Earlier, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Melanie Ng said more tourists from China will definitely come to Cebu, following the announcement of Chinese carrier Xiamen Air to launch of new routes this year, including Fuzhou-Cebu and Quanzhou-Cebu.

The new routes to be launched in 2017 are seen to strengthen the air linkages between the Philippines and Fujian province in China.

"As more travel routes with China are developed, this affords the business community to explore better travel options and also better logistics options for shipment of goods," Ng further stressed, noting this aligned with the plans of the current administration to improve tourist arrivals from China.

She said this also bodes well with the efforts of the chamber to increase trade and investment opportunities with China, the world's second largest economy.

It is expected that Japanese tourists coming to Cebu will also increase, following the launch last Dec 25 of Japanese budget carrier Vanilla Air's regular flights from Narita airport to Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

A unit of ANA Holdings, Vanilla is the first Japanese airline to offer a regular flights between Narita to Cebu's resort island.

The airline earlier said the new route is expected to attract robust demand as more and more Japanese are going to Cebu for travel and study.

The Central Visayas region is also seen to get more share of Japanese tourists, with Cebu, in particular, being branded as the vacation destination of Japanese tourists.

In 2015, visitor arrivals in Region 7 reached 4.6 million, surpassing the 4.4 million target. Of the total, about 3.3 million of the tourists went to Cebu.