GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 21 Jan) – South Cotabato province’s enhanced tourism initiatives made a significant leap last year as tourist arrivals in the area has finally breached the one million mark.
A report from the Provincial Tourism Unit (PTU) said a total of 1,226,960 domestic and foreign tourists visited tourist destinations and witnessed various festivities in key localities in the province in 2019.
Such number increased by about 30 percent when compared to the 941,952 total tourist arrivals in 2018.
Richie Matunding, PTU program assistant, said Tuesday their monitoring showed that the tourist arrivals started to peak in April last year due to the annual summer school break.
He said such trend continued until July during the celebration of the province’s 53rd foundation anniversary and 20th Tnalak Festival.
Domestic tourists comprised the majority of the visitors in the province last year while foreign tourists only reached around 5,000.
“Around 800,000 were day tourists or visitors who opted to just stay for the day. But there were more foreigners who decided to stay overnight,” he said in a report.
Argie Asaria, PTU tourism officer, said they recorded a significant increase in visitors last year to cultural and ecotourism destinations, which are mostly located in Lake Sebu and Tboli towns.
