About 1.15 million same day and overnight tourists have visited Negros Occidental in the first seven months of the year and the Provincial Tourism Office is confident that the tourist arrivals will exceed last year’s in the remaining five months of 2024.
Provincial Tourism Officer Cheryl Decena told DIGICAST NEGROS on Thursday, July 18, that as of this month, there have been 793,000 same day tourists and 358,008 overnight tourists who have visited the province since the start of the year, with some local government units yet to submit their official records.
She said they are banking on the overnight tourists as they are the ones who spend.
Decena said that they are confident they will exceed last year’s record and expect a double digit growth with their office conducting capacity trainings and local government units in Negros Occidental creating tourism promotion initiatives.
“On the provincial level, we are doing capacity building for the frontliners and those incoming tourism establishments that are yet to get their accreditation (from the Department of Tourism-6)”, she said.
She said that they are pushing for tourism establishments to get or renew their accreditation to ensure that their level of service is at par with national and international standards.
Decena said that despite the El Niño dry spell and the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano, tourism arrivals in Negros Occidental were not affected.*