Tourist arrivals in Central Visayas hit 8 million in 2018

CEBU, Philippines — Central Visayas fetched 8.099 million tourists in 2018, a 16 percent increase from 2017.

In a press conference yesterday held at the Best Western Plus Lex Cebu, Department of Tourism (DOT-7) regional director Shalimar H.Tamano reported that the 8.099 million tourists contributed a total of P44.2 billion to the region’s economy. About 77 of these tourists stayed in Cebu province.

The region remains to be the country’s top tourism drawer, Tamano said.

Cebu, significantly, is already a complete destination—an urban resort, business destination, an educational hub, shopping mecca, among others. Thus, it consistently attracts visitors specifically the Korean nationals.

Domestic tourists led the arrival growth with 4.465 million Filipinos travel to the region, although it only grew by nine percent versus the other year.

Foreign tourists, on the other hand while it only counted over three million, its growth registered 25 percent, amid the security and peace and order issues.

Tamano, along with tourism private sector stakeholders led by Cebu Alliance of Tour Operations Specialists (CATOS) and Hotel, Restaurant and Resort Association of Cebu (HRRAC) attributed the closure of Boracay Island last year as one of the primary arrival growth boosters in 2018.

Foreign tourists contributed larger part of the tourism revenue, as one foreign tourist spends more or less P6,000 a day, compared to a thousand pesos average expenditure a day per person.

Korean nationals still lead the pact of top three foreign markets for Cebu, followed closely by Chinese and Japanese.

While there is a decline of Korean arrivals in the national record, Cebu continues to be the favorite vacation haven among Koreans.

Korean arrivals in 2018 registered at 1.344 million, a whooping 50 percent increase from 895, 776 Korean tourists visited the region in 2017.

Tamano said Cebu’s charm as an “all-in-one” destination—beach, business, adventure, shopping and ESL (English as Second Language) hub make Cebu as consistent top favorite destinations among Koreans, Chinese and Japanese tourists.