Puerto Princesa bid seen to bring in more tourists
With the inclusion of Puerto Princesa’s Underground River as one of the 28 finalists for the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition, the Department of Tourism is expecting an increase of at least 20 percent in tourist arrivals in the country.
Since being shortlisted in July 9, 2009, the Puerto Princesa tourism department had already seen a significant increase in the number of tourists visiting the area, said Puerto Princesa City Tourism Officer Rebecca Labit, during the Cebu City launching of the nationwide campaign to support Puerto Princesa’s bid.
“In 2009 we had 268,000 tourists and that increased by 55 percent (147,400 more) in 2010 with 415,400 tourists. This year we are confident that we will double the figure with our inclusion as among the top 28.”
Labit said that the status of Puerto Princesa’s Underground River being considered among the top Wonders of Nature in the World will help bring the country’s tourism up and help achieve the goal of 6.3 million tourists by 2016.
“That is why President (Benigno) Aquino III issued a proclamation on June 6 declaring a national and international promotion campaign for the Puerto Princesa Underground River as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature,” she said.
The proclamation urged all the Filipinos to support through texting and online voting to ensure that our lone finalist from the country will be named as among the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
“Based on results by a similar polling campaign which the New 7 Wonders of the World, the non winners earned a 20 percent more tourist arrivals as a result of the worldwide exposure while the winners earned a 75 percent increase in tourist arrivals,” Labit said.
“Based on the information we got from officials of the poll, we are currently at rank number 15 so we are really urging everyone to give their support. You can go online and vote or you can vote by texting PPUR to 2861.”
With the shortlisting of Puerto Princesa’s Underground River, the tourism department is focusing its thrust on promoting “undiscovered treasures and hidden gems” in the country.
Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said in a separate interview that the department planned to complement this thrust by putting in place secondary international airports that would make these destinations more convenient to visit for travelers and tourists.
Local Cebu stakeholders like Hans Hauri, Hotel Resorts Restaurants Association of Cebu president, and Efren Belarmino, general manager of Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, support the tourism department’s new thrust.
They said that Cebu could complement the thrust by also recreating a whole experience for tourists in Cebu such as letting them experience riding jeepneys or tricycles or letting them shop in one of Cebu’s wet markets giving them a first hand feel of the local flavor of Cebu.
Labit said that Cebu could also benefit from the popularity of Puerto Princesa Underground River because of the availability of direct flights now catering to these areas.
“Tourists would usually visit for two to three days and then go to other destinations in the country. Cebu is already in a good position to benefit because of the direct flights now serving these routes to and from Cebu,” Labit said.
The final proclamation of the New 7 Wonders of Nature will be on Nov. 11, 2011 in Switzerland.
“We have also launched a promotion where in 7 voters will win one million pesos each and another 70 voters to win an all expense paid trip to Puerto Princesa,” Labit said.
Puerto Princesa Underground River used to be known as St. Paul’s Subterranean River. It is one of the longest underground rivers stretching to 32.7 kilometers.
About 7.8 kilometers can be navigated but only about 1.2 kilometers are allowed for tourists to navigate.
Labit said a recent discovery of a 20 million year old fossil of a Serenia or a Sea Cow was believed to have strengthened its bid in the competition because the discovery of a fossil was one in a billion case.
Aside from that, the underground river also holds very complex species of animals and biodiversity which is considered very important for science researches.
