THE provinces of Quezon and Laguna took home the “Destination of the Year” awards for attracting the most number of tourists in the Southern Tagalog region or Calabarzon.
The awards were handed out by the Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 4 A at the recent fourth Calabarzon Tourism Summit at The Bellevue Manila. Calabarzon is composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon. In a news statement, the DOT said both provinces recorded 6.6 million same-day tourists and 1.22 million overnight visitors, respectively, in 2016.
“We extend our sincerest congratulations to Quezon Province Gov. David Suarez and Laguna Gov. Ramil Hernandez and all awardees of the Calabarzon Tourism Summit,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said in a speech read for her by DOT Assistant Secretary Malou Japson. “May we continue to work hand in hand in utilizing the full potential of our region.”
DOT Region 4A Regional Director Rebecca Villanueva-Labit said she projects a 20-percent increase in same-day tourists in the region, exceeding 31 million in 2017, from last year’s 26 million, and a 20-percent to 25-percent rise in overnight staying visitors to about 5.3 million this year, from the 4.5 million in 2016.
Select hotels, resorts and other tourism establishments also received the Pillars of Tourism Award. These include Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay, Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort in Quezon, Enchanted Kingdom in Laguna and the Costales Nature Farms in Batangas.
Also handed out was the Director’s Award for the Association of Travel and Tour Agencies in Calabarzon, Terra Verde Ecofarm and Resort, Nurture Wellness Village and the Tagaytay Tourism Council.
DOT-Region 4A, likewise, recognized other hotels; resorts; provincial, cit and municipal tourism officers; media partners; and other tourism supporters during the summit which carried the theme, “Working Towards Sustainable Tourism and Building Partnerships Through Appreciation and Recognition.”
During the summit, the DOT’s Bring Home A Friend (BHAF) campaign in the Calabarzon region was also launched. “Invite your friends to visit the country and take the first trip to Calabarzon. Bring them over to see what the regions have to offer,” Teo said.
The BHAF program, encourages all Filipinos and Filipino expatriates living abroad to invite foreigners to the country by giving them the chance to win raffle prizes, which include a Megaworld Eastwood Le Grand condominium unit, a brand-new Toyota Vios and a P200,000 gift certificate from Duty Free Philippines Corp.
Foreign visitors who make the trip on invite of their Filipino friends also have the opportunity to win trips to select destinations in the country, with free air tickets, and hotel/resort accommodations.
In an previous interview with the BusinessMirror, Teo said she hoped to attract an additional 500,000 foreign visitors to the Philippines through the BHAF campaign.
The program is also being simultaneously launched abroad, as well as in several parts of the country. The program is slated to last for six months from its recent launch in October, but Teo said the DOT may just keep the program going. She said the program encourages Filipinos here and abroad to become tourism ambassadors for the Philippines.
In 2018 the DOT is targetting an increase in foreign visitors to 7.5 million from this year’s official target of 6.5 million.