MikeLigalig.com

Not really spared from the adverse effects of the global financial crisis, the Central Visayas economic performance slowed down following a holding back stance until the economy starts to bounce.

But according to the Regional Development Council in its Full Council Meeting held Friday at the posh Bohol Tropics Resort here, tourism, one of Visayas’ major economic drivers remained vibrant.

The vibrant status can be gleaned from visitor arrival data in the fourth quarter of 2008 which exceeded last year’s level by 9.6%, the RDC briefing notes reveal.

The continued influx of foreign travelers coming to the region despite the recession in the United States and other major economies has been the main reason why the region squeezed a double digit increase in foreign visitor arrivals.

In fact, observers have noted that a large bulk of foreign arrivals visiting the region were balikbayan homing for the holidays and the festivals in the region in the first quarter of the new year.

For foreign travelers, Koreans still remain to be on top comprising more than one-fourth of the total foreign visitors in the region. Japanese ranked next with about 18%.

Chinese tourists, perhaps owing to the travel campaigns made by local officials to China have doubled their arrivals since fourth quarter of 2007.

In domestic travel, the market showed a slow-down from its previous year’s high double-digit performance of 12.5% in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 8.1% in 2008.

In Bohol, from 54,915 tourists in 2006, it went up to 62.033 in 2007 and then rose to 71,366 to an annual average of 15.05%.

Industry players in the region also confirmed the growth, however slower than the previous year, says the Department of Tourism.

Reports reaching DOT revealed that tourism stakeholders noted that occupancy rates in the region’s hotels remained high, despite clear close-cutting measures in the light of the crisis.

This was also noted by authorities in Bohol when reports stream of declined interest in investing in the industry, possibly because tourism sector still remains to be one of the most vulnerable industries to the crisis. (PIA)

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