BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The provincial government of Negros Occidental is encouraging its 31 local government units (LGUs) to celebrate their respective festivals to attract more tourists.
Thus far, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 6, only Boracay Island has attained pre-pandemic tourist arrivals in Western Visayas.
Provincial administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, said Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is already supporting all tourism-related activities such as the highly successful “MassKara sa Panaad” event last month during the MassKara Festival.
Diaz said holding the festivals again signifies that life in the province has returned to normal.
“I think ang aton discretion alam naman kita, so we can prevent nga malatnan kita [sang COVID-19] by practicing good hygiene and all,” Diaz pointed out.
He said they are already preparing a lot of events for the province, such as hosting sports competitions, to help the economy recover following more than two years of inactivity due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
He also agreed with the statement of DOT-6 director Cristine Mansinares that even though only Boracay has reached 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 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-layoff, [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,” the provincial administrator added.
Earlier over the weekend, Mansinares said Boracay had 1,473,158 tourist arrivals as of Nov. 6, with tourists from the National Capital Region (NCR) making 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 LGUs 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, meanwhile, announced during the “MassKara sa Panaad” event that the Panaad sa Negros Festival will again be celebrated in April next year./PN
