Prov’l gov’t urging LGUs to celebrate festivals to attract more tourists

The Provincial Government of Negros Occidental is urging its 31 local government units (LGUs) to celebrate their respective festivals in order to attract more tourists to the province.

This comes after the Department of Tourism in Western Visayas (DOT-6) reported that, so far, only Boracay island has attained pre-pandemic tourist arrivals in the region.

Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, said that Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is already supporting all tourism-related activities, even the highly-successful “MassKara sa Panaad” event held last month during the MassKara Festival.

Diaz said holding the festivals again signify that life in the province has come back to normal.

“I think ang aton discretion alam naman kita, so we can prevent personally nga malatnan kita [sang COVID-19] by practicing good hygiene and all,” Diaz pointed out.

Diaz said they are already preparing a lot of events for the province such as hosting sporting events, and festivals in order to help the economy recover following more than two-years of inactivity brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also agreed with the statement from DOT-6 director Cristine Mansinares that even though only Boracay has reached he pre-pandemic levels of tourist arrivals in the region, Negros Occidental and the rest of Western Visayas are well on their way to recovery.

Diaz even pointed out that flights between Bacolod and Manila are now operating eight times a day, while Bacolod to Cebu flights are now at twice daily.

Direct Bacolod to Davao flights have also resumed this month, and Diaz revealed flights between Bacolod and Clark may also resume soon.

“PAL, Cebu Pacific, and Air Asia have always been very appreciative sa efforts sang provincial government, unlike sa iban nga pungsod nga nang lay-off, [teh] subong nga gusto na sila maglupad waay sila mga stewardess kag waay sila mga pilots, so they’re really having a hard time taking-off nga makabalik na sila tani sa pre-pandemic situation,” Diaz added.

Earlier over the weekend, Mansinares said Boracay had 1,473,158 tourist arrivals as of November 6 with tourists from the National Capital Region (NCR) make up the bulk of the arrivals at 498,738, followed by locals from Western Visayas at 266,884, and Region IV-A or CALABARZON at 256,915.

Foreign tourist arrivals, meanwhile, are now at 84,224.

Prior to the pandemic Negros Occidental was the second go to place for tourists after Boracay island.

Following the success of the MassKara Festival, the province’s local government units such as Cadiz City, and Kabankalan City have already announced that they will be resuming the Dinagsa and Sinulog Festivals respectively in January.

The Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, meanwhile, announced during the “MassKara sa Panaad” event that the Panaad sa Negros Festival will again be celebrated in April next year.* (DGB)