Last year the total tourist arrivals in Bicol Region is 1,306,972 (Domestic 1,057,735; Foreign 249,237).

Department of Tourism (DOT) regional director Maria Ong-Ravanilla said the province had a total of 721.024 tourists who visited in 2008, an increase of 57.8 percent more than its 2007 level.

Of this number, 72.6 percent were domestic tourists while the rest were foreigners. The increase in foreign tourists though had surged to 332.7 percent in 2008, the highest increase in tourist arrivals among provinces in the region.

She said that Albay, which used to be the top tourist destination during the previous years, was edged out by Camarines Sur since 2006.

“It can be recalled that it was also in this year that the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC) started its operation,” Ravanilla said.

She explained that Camarines Sur is now the top tourist destination in the region based on reported tourist arrivals from the Department of Tourism.

In the past, Camarines Sur was only second to Albay in terms of tourist receipts. In 2005, tourist arrivals in Albay comprised 31.9 percent of the total tourist arrivals in the region while the share of Camarines Sur was 28.8 percent.

In 2006, Albay’s share in the total tourist receipts in the region dropped 11 percentage points. The rest of the provinces likewise posted decreases in tourist arrivals starting 2006 except for Sorsogon whose tourist arrivals started to drop in 2007.

On the other hand, the 28.8 percent share in tourist arrivals of Camarines Sur in 2005 dramatically rose to 40.6 percent in 2006. Catanduanes has the least number of tourists in the region in the region followed by Sorsogon and Camarines Norte respectively.

Most of the tourists who visited the region were domestic tourists. An influx of foreign tourists however was noted in all provinces except in Albay, which posted a decrease of 73.4 percent in 2008.

In 2007, foreign tourists in Albay consisted 25.8 percent of the total tourist receipts of the province, the highest among provinces during that year. In 2008, Camarines Sur topped the list of provinces in the region with the highest number of foreign tourists consisting of 27.4 percent of its total tourist receipts.

In contrast, Albay runs second to Masbate with the least proportion of foreign tourists to the total number of tourists in the provinces in 2008.

Foreign tourists in Albay comprised 5.6 percent of its total tourist receipts while Masbate had four percent.

Since 1981 until 2007, Americans dominated the tourists who go to the Bicol Region except in 1983 when there were more German than American tourists and during the years 1991-1995, and 2005 when there were more Japanese tourists than Americans.

In 2008 however, there were more French tourists than any other foreigner who came to Bicol. The French comprised 14.2 percent of the region’s total foreign tourist receipts while Americans comprised 10.9 percent. Also notable during this year was the influx of tourists from South Korea and China which comprised 8.4 and 5.8 percent respectively of the total foreign tourists.

Tourist arrivals in Bicol Region generally increased, posting 45.6 percent growth in 2008. While there were more domestic tourists than foreigners, domestic tourists increased by only 33.5 percent in 2008. Foreign tourists on the other hand increased by 136 percent.

Tourist receipts in all provinces of the region increased between 2007 and 2008, except in Catanduanes which decreased by 2.7 percent in 2008.

The province however had the highest proportion of foreign tourists to its total tourist receipts.

Data on tourist receipts can indicate how important tourism is to a province. Tourism can bring about employment and livelihood apart from income which can then be used for further investments or provision of social services. (PNA)

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.

Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano told Davao reporters that the successful filming of Survivor France led other international producers to consider the islands in the Philippines as the right site for adventure.

Durano graced the Ecotourism Congress in Davao City on Wednesday, June 4, 2008 where tourism industry players, property owners, tourism officers and planners talked on the new standards as guide for developing ecotourism destinations.

Several tourists would go for physical activity and not just sightseeing and Davao with authentic destinations has the ingredient for adventure travel, he said.

Durano said they had been pushing for that to include diving and scuba diving is another market segment.

It maybe recalled that diving was promoted the Department of Tourism in the European market in a Travel Show early this year and generated interests among tourists.

The Adventure Travel is already a growing market, he said. With the global travel of about $900 million market, one-fifth of this is on adventure travel.

Durano meanwhile said that some of international producers from Korea and the US are looking for areas here that are ideal for location shoots.

In fact he said the “Survivor U.S.” is considering Caramoan as the site for their next episode.

“With our country consisting of several islands there will be lot of sites ideal for adventure,” he said.

Several tourists would go for physical activity and not just sightseeing and Davao with authentic destinations has the ingredient for adventure travel.

Durano said they had been pushing for that to include diving and scuba diving is another market segment.

As far as the airing of the Survivor France, he said part of the agreement is to include the showing of tourism sites of the Philippines as an opener to the main episode.

He said with nine million viewers daily for “Survivor France” beamed to television viewers in Europe and Canada that would be a high priced media mileage of promoting the destinations in the Philippines.

The airing of Survivor France will be from July to September of a reality game show that isolates its contestants in the wilderness to compete for cash and prizes in a location of exotic environments.

Durano said at Caramoan, a P200 million worth of facilities was built for the crew and contestants of Survivor France. And using it for four months, the producers paid P30 million to the provincial government of Camarines Sur. What the government paid was only the fuel needs for the entire filming, he said.

The Adventure Travel is already a growing market, he said. With the global travel of about $900 million market, one-fifth of this is on adventure travel.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said he expects more foreign and local tourists to visit Camarines Sur in the coming months with the opening of the newest tourist spot in Gota Beach in Caramoan, Camarines Sur.

Gota Beach, located in the Caramoan Peninsula, was recently developed by the provincial government under Governor Luis Raymund Villafuerte. Its beach and those of nearby islands like Lahuy, Bitanglaya and others, have white, powdery sand and the waters that surround them are crystal-clear.

It was the site where the French edition of the popular TV series “Survivor,” was filmed. Shooting was completed last week, to be aired soon in Europe.

Durano said being a location venue for shootings is one way of promoting Caramoan in the European and international market.

DOT’s thrust for Bicol is to promote this new tourist spot, the Camarines Sur Water Sports Complex and the butanding (whale sharks) of Donsol, according to Durano. “We have to cluster and organize these destinations in one tour package to maximize tourism in the region,” he added.

The Tourism chief was with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and other members of the Cabinet who slept over in Gota Beach last May 5, after attending the inauguration ceremonies of Sutherland Global Services business process outsourcing (BPO) delivery center in the Camarines Sur IT Park inside the provincial capitol complex.

Camarines Sur became the prime destination for local and foreign tourists in the Bicol region starting 2006 under Governor Villafuerte’s aggressive tourism development program.

Based on DOT 2007 figures, tourist arrivals in Camarines Sur jumped by 41 percent compared to the number of visitors to the province in 2006.

Of the 456,911 tourists who visited the province last year, 411,285 were locals while 45,626 were foreigners.

The latest DOT report showed there were 897,680 tourist arrivals in the region last year, or an increase of 41 percent from 2006’s record of 637,127. Of the total number of arrivals, 792,072 were local tourists and 105,608 were foreigners.

On a year-on-year basis, 2006-2007, Camarines Sur posted a phenomenal growth rate of 77 percent in tourist arrivals.

Bicol tourism director Maria Ong Ravanilla cited the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex in Pili town as the biggest contributor to tourist arrivals

The islands of Lahuy, Cotivas, Guinahuan, Luksuhin, Malibagon and Masag, located off the northern coast of Caramoan town are now national tourism zones.

Re-elected Congressman Noli Fuentebella of the 3rd district of Camarines Sur, who is the principal sponsor of the newly enacted law, said RA No. 9445 directs the Department of Tourism (DOT), its attached agencies and the Partido Development Authority (PDA) to come up with a tourism development plan for the Caramoan islands.

The Caramoan islands’ tourism development plan will include the protection and enhancement of the natural features and cultural heritage of the tourist zones and provide a sustainable economic opportunities for the communities in the areas.

Moreover, the Department of Tourism is also mandated to include in its program the promotion, locally and internationally, of the tourist zones.