Despite last year’s bus hostage tragedy that claimed the lives of eight Hong Kong nationals, tourist arrivals from the former Crown Colony shrank by a little over 20 percent.
Regional Director Rowena Montecillo of the Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7) said David Leung, the agency’s representative to Hong Kong and Macau, confirmed the figures in a meeting with travel agents in Hong Kong.
The meeting was part of the itinerary of a group of tourism stakeholders in the country for Hong Kong and Macau last Oct. 19 to 21.
Montecillo said these figures show that majority of Hong Kong and Macau natives see the country as a peaceful place to visit.
“Many travel agency representatives there also disagreed with the black travel alert and said it should be immediately lifted or downgraded,” Montecillo said.
The DOT-7 chief said the three-day visit was intended to re-connect with the country’s tourism partners in Hong Kong and Macau.
She said the agency wants to reaffirm the country’s position as safe and viable tourist destination.
Among those who joined the visit were managers from Mandarin Oriental Manila, Marriot Cebu City Hotel, Marco Polo Plaza Hotel Cebu, Crimson Resort and Spa and Kasai Village Resort.
The contingent was headed by DOT Assistant Secretary Benito C. Bengzon, Jr..
Montecillo said the DOT is preparing for a familiarization tour of the country for executives of selected travel agencies in Hong Kong, which they hope to do this month.
The DOT said their records showed that foreign visitor arrivals went up by 12 percent as of June this year compared to the same period last year.
“At this rate, we are looking to outperform our 3.52-million showing in 2010 and hit, if not surpass our 3.74-million target this year,” the DOT said in their press statement.
The agency said tourist arrival growth in the leading East Asia regional market remained steady at 17.52 percent.
South Korea remains the biggest market with 429,569 visitors, up by 28.76 percent from last year.
They were followed by China with 16.85 percent or 105,423 visitors and Taiwan with 84,979 visitors or an increase of 35.81 percent.
Japan registered a modest increase of 181,379 arrivals or over 5 percent from last year.
Montecillo said the US remained steady at fifth place with 338,020 visitors or up by 6.57 percent.
In Cebu, Montecillo said arrivals from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan dropped last year due to the hostage tragedy.
Hong Kong arrivals went down by 4.90 percent or 22,237 visitors last year compared to 23,382 in 2009.
Chinese tourist arrivals shrank by 3.54 percent with 34,265 visitors compared to 35,521 in 2009.
Taiwan registered a huge 58.73 percent drop with only 6,112 arrivals last year compared to 2009’s 14,810.
Still, Montecillo said they remain confident that the country will rebound from their losses with a renewed campaign to win back visitors next year.