Negros Occidental second most visited place by domestic tourists — survey

Negros Occidental is the second most visited place in the country by domestic travelers, according to a survey recently released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT).

Following National Capital Region (NCR), the province outranked Pangasinan, Cavite, Quezon, Bohol, Cebu, Camarines Sur, Laguna, and Leyte in the list of top 10 most visited places.

The 2016 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors, which is conducted every two years since 2005, is aimed at gathering data on domestic and outbound travels mainly for policy making purposes.

The survey that was administered to around 18,000 households with reference period covering April to September last year, showed that 69 percent of the travelers were day visitors.

The remaining 31 percent comprised overnight visitors with an average stay of five nights. They spent money most on transportation, shopping, and food and beverages.

In terms of purpose of visit, the PSA and DOT reported that most travels were made for pleasure and vacation, followed by visiting friends and relatives, and religion or pilgrimage.

Most frequent type of accommodations, meanwhile, included home of friends and relatives, resorts and hotels.

The popular tourist spots in Negros Occidental include the Balay Negrense in Silay City, The Ruins in Talisay City, Mambukal Mountain Resort in Murcia town, Laguerta Home of the Vintage Glasses Museum in Bacolod, and the Sagay Marine Reserve.

The most popular festival in the province is the colorful Masskara festival, which is celebrated every fourth Sunday of October in Bacolod City. The activities inclulde street dancing, concerts, drum and bugle competitions, and a beauty pageant.

It is also undertaken to measure the volume of domestic and international visitors, identify the travel patterns of the household members from age 15 and above, and to determine the extent and economic contribution of domestic and international visitors in the country.

Cristine Mansinares, Negros Occidental provincial supervising tourism operations officer, said being tagged as one of the favored destinations in the country is a big boost to the tourism industry of the province.

She said the survey result is a validation that the provincial government’s marketing efforts are on the right track.

“Under our Negros First Agenda, tourism promotion and development with the help of the private sector is one of the top priorities,” said Mansinares, adding that 96 percent of the province’s tourist arrivals are domestic. 

The provincial government also recognized that it has to maintain and further sustain its growing tourism industry.

Mansinares said they are working more on professionalizing the industry by extending  capacity building training to tourism stakeholders.

“We are doing (a) series of training including tour guiding and farm tourism orientation until November,” she said. — BAP, GMA News