Tourism industry in Guimaras is inching its way up and this time the next target are foreign guests from the countries of Australia, New Zealand and other European countries.

Guimaras Gov. Felipe Hilan Nava said the thrust of the province is to invite European tourists, who prefer a laid back environment like Guimaras.

Nava cited that domestic tourism in the province is very much okay as he even considered Koreans as part of the local tourists already.

However, in positioning itself as an alternative destination, Nava disclosed that a beach resort at the Municipality of Nueva Valencia will open in December that will cater to tourists from Europe, New Zealand and Australia.

“They don’t want to go to Boracay because they don’t want air conditioned rooms. Nine to 10 years a year they have snow,” he said.

He added also that there has been an ‘increasing number of whites’ frequenting the island.

“We take it slowly but surely,” he added.

The tourism industry of Guimaras suffered as a result of the oil spill incident in 2006.

Several resorts then complained of their foreign guests canceling their reservations because of the disaster.

However, after a year the province was able to bring back to normalcy the situation and efforts are now geared on promoting the island as an eco-tourism and adventure destination.

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