By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The Negros Occidental provincial government is encouraging its 31 local government units (LGUs) to celebrate their respective festivals to attract more tourists.
This comes after the Department of Tourism in Western Visayas (DOT-6) reported that in the region, only Boracay Island has attained pre-pandemic levels of tourist arrivals so far.
Provincial administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz said Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is already supporting all tourism-related activities such as the “highly successful” MassKara sa Panaad as part of the MassKara Festival last month.
Diaz said holding the festivals again signifies 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 said.
Diaz pointed out that they are already preparing a lot of events for the province, such as hosting sporting events and festivals to help the economy recover following the more than two years of inactivity brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The provincial administrator also agreed with the statement of DOT-6 director Cristine Mansinares that although only Boracay has reached the 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 also pointed out that Bacolod to Manila flights are now operating eight times a day, while Bacolod to Cebu flights are now twice daily, and direct flights from Bacolod to Davao have also resumed this month.
Flights between Bacolod and Clark may also resume soon, he revealed.
Earlier, Mansinares said that Boracay had 1,473,158 tourist arrivals as of November 6, with tourists from the National Capital Region making up the bulk of the arrivals at 498,738, followed by locals from Western Visayas at 266,884, and Calabarzon at 256,915.
Meanwhile, foreign tourist arrivals are now at 84,224.
Prior to the pandemic, Negros Occidental was the second go-to place for tourists after Boracay.
Following the success of the MassKara Festival last month, the province’s local government units of Cadiz City and Kabankalan City have already announced that they will be resuming the Dinagsa and Sinulog Festivals, respectively, in January 2023.
The provincial government also announced that the Panaad sa Negros Festival will again be celebrated in April next year./DGB, WDJ