NorMin tourist arrivals stable despite martial law

A tourism official of Misamis Oriental on Monday, September 11, said tourist arrivals in the province remain stable and the tourism sites are earning despite martial law in Mindanao.

Provincial Tourism Officer Yvonne Waga said despite declaration of military rule, Misamis Oriental continues to invite tourists to visit and experience various attractions in the province.

“Atong domestic tourists daghan gihapon, stable siya. Nag less lang sa mga tourists outside of Mindanao kanang taga lain lugar maong ang tourist operations naghinay ilang

opportunity,” Waga said.

The provincial capitol kicked off the Tourism Week Celebration yesterday, September 11, with the theme “Sustainable Tourism tool to development”.

The week-long celebration will showcase the dry-run of tour packages for Misamis Oriental; photo and painting exhibits.

The tour packages include transportation, food, accommodation, fees and other services for the entire tour.

“I-actualize nato ang naa sa tour packages with time and motion kung unsa ang mga inclusion sa package,” Waga said.

Waga said the Sagpulon falls and Agutayan jump-off point in Jasaan town alone earned nearly P2 million during its first 10 months of operation.

She said other tourism destinations are also gaining profit as they expect it would earn more in the coming months.

Waga said the provincial capitol is inclined to develop more potential tourist sites following the directives of Governor Yevgeny Emano whose flagship program is anchored on tourism.

“The provincial tourism office has this vision to attain sustainable tourism development. We expect nga modaghan pa tourist arrivals nato ug mag earn pa kay padayon atong pagdevelop sa mga tourist sites,”Waga said.

Marie Elaine Unchuan, regional director of Department of Tourism for Northern Mindanao (DOT-10), said Misamis Oriental has lots of emerging and potential tourist sites worth developing.

Unchuan said the tourism industry in the region continue to recover starting July after it had gotten hurt following the martial law declaration when cancellations of big events, bookings and reservations in hotels were reported.

“It hurts us for the past few months pero karon ga-pick and ga-recover na ta,” Unchuan said.

In Iligan City, she said, hotels are fully booked because of humanitarian efforts but she said humanitarian workers do not visit tourist sites.

Camiguin which was slightly affected was able to pick up and attract tourists at present while Cagayan de Oro City is already recovering in terms of domestic tourism.

“Sa Iligan busy man gud sa humanitarian efforts busa dili kaayo ga tour. Sa CDO so far domestic tourism is recovering, ang international mas affected because of travel advisories kay lisod man sila motravel kung naay advisory kay ma-nullify man ilang insurance if something happens to them,”Unchuan said