Tourist arrivals in Camarines Sur reached 902,202 in the first six months of 2009, making it the most favored tourism destinations in the Philippines, a report of the Department of Tourism (DOT) said here Thursday.

Even Governor LRay Villafuerte himself was taken by surprise by the latest DOT figures. “CamSur ranked third most visited destination last year, but we were not expecting to rise to the very top in such a short time”, he said.

Caramoan Peninsula

The province accounted for some one-fourth of the total tourist arrivals in the key destinations in the country with a robust growth in both foreign and domestic visitors by 52 percent and 260 percent, respectively. The rise in tourist arrivals in CamSur is largely credited Villafuerte’s judicious and timely investments in tourism projects.

At the forefront of the province’s main tourist attractions are the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC), which is now a wakeboarding mecca and a center of various water-based sports, and the Gota Village Resort, which is the leading eco-tourism destination in the world.

With this development, CamSur is now the undisputed No. 1 tourist destination in the country outranking Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Bohol, Boracay, and Puerto Galera.

Villafuerte expressed optimism that CamSur can maintain its top position for the rest of the year through the promotion of more international activities like the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines scheduled at the CWC on August 23, where 500 participants from all over the world are joining the event.

The report also said that tourist arrivals in the leading 16 tourism destinations in the country rose by an average of 16.5 percent reaching up to close to four million this first semester, despite the global economic crunch, the threat of A(H1N1) virus and reduction of some six percent in volume of inbound travel to the Pacific area.

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