Camarines Sur tourism figures down

NAGA CITY, Philippines—After years of growth in tourist arrivals since 2006, Camarines Sur suffered a decline in number of tourists in 2013 partly due to the lack of activities in the province’s top tourist attraction,  CamSur Watersports Complex (CWC).

Maria Ravanilla, regional director of the Department of Tourism (DOT), said the decline in tourist arrivals was mainly due to the absence of activities at  CWC, which has been the province’s top tourist attraction since 2006.

“That’s how important CWC is,” she said. “Because there were no events and activities there last year, tourist arrivals have declined considerably,” she added.

CWC, which is owned and operated by the provincial government in a 5-hectare water sports facility inside the capitol complex in Pili town, was closed for renovation in July 2013 and reopened sometime in September, also last year.

But Gov. Miguel Luis “Migz” Villafuerte has not set any event at  CWC until the end of 2013.

CWC is the brainchild of former Gov. LRay Villafuerte, the father of the incumbent governor.

Ravanilla said the initial report released by the DOT’s  office in Bicol on Friday showed a total of 1.3 million tourist arrivals for Camarines Sur, with Naga City contributing 890,000 of the total arrivals in the province.

“It’s quite big for Naga City, meaning it led the 1.3-million record in 2013,” she said.

Ravanilla said the 2.5-million record of tourist arrivals in 2012 in Camarines Sur was attributed to CWC and the tourist town of Caramoan.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) once cited the tourism record of CWC as a “breakthrough in Bicol tourism industry.”

In the Neda’s latest Bicol Development Updates, CWC was credited with the increase of tourists coming to Camarines Sur.

The Neda said that  since CWC started its operation in May 2006, tourist arrivals in Bicol reached 637,127 by December 2006.

Ravanilla said the provincial government of Camarines Sur had yet to submit its last quarter report for 2013 so the DOT could not yet provide complete details of tourist arrivals in 2013 in the entire Bicol region.

“Pending this report, the partial sum of tourist arrivals in Bicol in 2013 stands at 3.1 million as against the 3.7 million in 2012,” she said.