RP tourist numbers up 10% in first quarter

By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 14:52:00 04/25/2009

Filed Under: Tourism

MANILA, Philippines -- The tourism sector has shown signs of growth despite the financial crunch that left other industries struggling, first-quarter data from the Department of Tourism show.

According to the department’s first-quarter report, tourist arrivals in top destinations of the country during the first quarter of 2009 grew by 10.33% for a total of 1.3 million.

Overall, the volume of domestic tourists visiting key destinations grew 13% while foreign arrivals recorded a 4% growth in the first quarter.

Cebu attracted the biggest volume of tourists with a 32% share of visitors and 180,000 foreign tourist arrivals, the report said.

Cebu was followed by Boracay, a popular beach destination in the province of Aklan; Davao City; Camarines Sur; Zambales; and Bohol.

Domestic tourist arrivals to Puerto Princesa City and Coron in Palawan posted a record-breaking growth of 392% because of the increase in flights from Manila, Cebu, Caticlan, and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. ]

To further underscore the growth of the industry, the tourism department also announced that more rooms were opened in the first quarter of the year, a sign that investors were confident of the Philippines’ tourism prospects and that the industry continued to generate employment opportunities for Filipinos.

For the period January to March 2009, a total of 1,231 additional rooms were opened. With an aggregate cost of P8.016 Billion, these new investments directly employed 1,286 people, the department said.

Because of the healthy demand for tourism services, the DoT said it endorsed five development projects worth P6.3 billion in the first three months of the year.

These initiatives will generate 6,340 jobs for local residents.

The tourism department expects that 2,300 more rooms will open by year-end. The expanded accommodations, which are located in Manila, Cebu, Boracay, Tagaytay, Palawan, and Albay, will employ 2,000 Filipinos, the report added.