OUTSIDE SIARGAO A child swims in the crystal clear blue waters of another emerging tourist destination, Hikdop Island, in Surigao City. —ERWIN M. MASCARIÑAS
BUTUAN CITY — The trickle down effect of increased tourism revenue in Siargao Island is being felt by Surigao City, which welcomed the growing popularity of one of its 17 islands and islets as a tourist destination.
Roselyn Armida Merlin, supervising tourism operations officer of the Surigao City tourism office, said “tourism influx to our city has increased throughout the years.”
Quake survivor
Though hit by an earthquake in February 2017, Surigao City was “slowly recovering” thanks largely to Siargao, Merlin said.
Surigao City shared in the bounty of tourism in Siargao in the form of hotel bookings and tourist spending in the city as they shuttle back and forth to the island, Merlin said.
She said officials “noticed a trend” of visitors, who could not be accommodated by fully booked direct flights to Siargao, flying through Cebu City through Surigao City or getting flights from Manila to Butuan City.
Surigao’s route
“This leaves them with no choice but to stay in Surigao City before jumping off by boat to Siargao,” Merlin said.
“We have a chance to show them what our city has to offer in terms of tourism potential as well,” she said.
The same is true of visitors travelling by land from other parts of Mindanao, like Cagayan de Oro City, Bukidnon or Davao.
“So we benefit a lot from these instances,” Merlin said.
Surigao City has 17 islands and islets, and 54 villages, with 33 in the mainland.
The local government has since embarked on a massive tourism program, dubbed “Island-Hopping.”
Good sign
“We are now redirecting our thrust toward our island destinations,” Merlin said.
Data from the city tourism office showed that arrivals of both domestic and foreign visitors in Surigao City in 2016 was at least 299,977.
It fell to 271,904 in 2017 after the quake.
But Merlin said “slowly, we are gaining traction.”
She said as of April this year, tourist arrivals had already reached 24,176 compared with 21,574 in April last year.
“The data might not be much but these are a good sign for us,” Merlin said.
On Feb. 10, 2017, a 6.7-magnitude quake shook Surigao City and damaged infrastructure, including the airport’s runway.
The runway still could not accommodate larger planes.
“We have only two flights with smaller planes,” Merlin said.
Overcoming difficulty
“Of course any guest would be discouraged to travel that long if they would have to jump from one airport to the next just to get to Surigao,” she said.
“Despite the problems, we were able to manage and increase the tourist arrivals,” she added.
Merlin said that aside from islands in Surigao City’s jurisdiction, other islands, like Dinagat, were “just an hour away,” making these “very accessible and convenient for those who want to experience our island-hopping destinations and tourism packages.”