Investors remain bullish on Cagayan de Oro tourism

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Mindanao’s favorite convention city may have hit a plateau in tourist arrivals last year following 2003’s hefty 19 percent hike in tourist arrivals but industry leaders remain optimistic about the future.

Data from the Department of Tourism-Region 10 show that total tourist arrivals reached 707,807 in 2005, only slightly higher than the previous year’s 701,266.

Domestic arrivals dropped slightly by .04 percent but this was compensated by the encouraging 26 percent hike in foreign tourist arrivals. Last year, when domestic tourist arrivals rose 18.10 percent and foreign visitors increased by 53.3 percent, the region’s hotel occupancy rate was also pushed up to 55.53 percent.

The number of conventions and conferences continued to drop last year and slowed down to 35 percent following the previous year’s 81 percent plunge. However, the total number of delegates dropped by only as much as 19.25 percent compared to figures in 2003. On the plus side, hotel occupancy improved to 61 percent, which was attributed to the 26 percent hike in the number of foreign tourist arrivals.

Cagayan de Oro has always been a favorite destination of convention-goers and organizers not only from Mindanao but from Luzon and the Visayas as well. Private and public investments continue to pour in the tourism sector though despite the decrease in the number of conventions and conferences.

Private sector investments registered last year with the Board of Investments in Region 10 include the P53.26-million, 120-room Mallberry Suites which will be fully completed by August. It is strategically located at the Limketkai Center, adjacent to Robinson’s Big R Supercenter.

Pryce Plaza, the city’s premier hotel, has also registered a P12-million investment for a spa to counter competition from the Korean-owned P291-million, 74-room Koresco Hotel, which is not only nearer the city’s Lumbia Airport but is also adjacent to the 18-hole Pueblo de Oro Championship Golf Course and perfectly complements the Xavier Estates Sports & Country Club across the street. Koresco has ballroom-cum-convention center which seats 1,000 persons, a sports and country club, and also leases Swiss chalets to visitors who prefer more privacy.

Not to be left behind is Malasag Resort Corp. which has poured in an additional P15 million to construct 10 new rooms, bringing its total capacity to 41 rooms with four stand-alone cottages.

Contrary to what many local business analysts say, Cagayan de Oro seems to be favorably situated to take advantage of the tourism boom.

Regional and national convention-goers are drawn by the close proximity of its hotels to major tourist draws that include an "in-city" 18-hole world class golf course and a country club.

Aware of these trends, private and public investments continue to pour in the tourism sector in anticipation of even more tourist arrivals in the coming years.

Two more bridges across the Cagayan de Oro River which will definitely improve the flow of motor vehicles in the city are being eyed.

Not far away are the P2.35-billion Tubod-Tangub bridge which will funnel more visitors from the Zamboanga Peninsula through Region 10 and the P5.8-billion Laguindingan Airport that aims to open links to the BIMP-Eaga and eventually all of Asia, Europe and the Americas with its capacity to handle wide-body aircrafts for long-haul flights.

The city government took advantage of the vastly improved road access to the previously inaccessible Kagay-anon (previously Lawndale) Spring Resort by investing P7.8 million to build a 150-person function hall. The Department of Public Works and Highways also continues work on the Cagayan de Oro Convention Center championed by native son Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

In the past years, both the Philippine Ports Authority and Air Transportation Office through the Department of Transportation and Communications improved the passenger terminals and related amenities in the Macabalan Port and Lumbia Airport, respectively.

Limketkai Center has also undertaken a P230-million expansion to compete with SM Cagayan de Oro.

Investments are not only in infrastracture though. Sink Hole Adventures Corp. has launched the Makahambus Adventure Park at the Makahambus Gorge. Among its attractions are a Skywalk Bridge rappelling down the 150-foot gorge, and the Zipline "Slide for Life."

Another investment is the Mapawa Nature Park adjoining the 1,000-hectare ranch of the Pelaez family. Here, urban cowboys can experience horseback riding, camping, trekking and fishing in a man-made lagoon. It is a mere 30-minute drive from Cagayan de Oro’s bustling city center.