A pro-administration lawmaker on Saturday said the Department of Tourism should develop ecotourism and extreme sports destinations as a pre-requisite to the implementation of major infrastructure project meant to attract tourists. Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, vice chairman of the House committee on local government, said meeting the target of 7.4-million visitor arrivals this year hinges on the development a new tourist destination.
Citing the example of Camarine Sur, Villafuerte said the province was transformed into a Philippine hotspot for extreme sports and ecotourism on his watch as governor from 2004 to 2013.
“Before we embark on a massive tourism infrastructure program, we should consider the development of tourist spots as ecotourism and extreme sports destinations, which have a higher number of repeat tourists and longer stays as shown by the example of CamSur,” Villafuerte, vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations, said.
He said Camarines Sur as an extreme sports hub has a high number of repeat visitors who have to stay weeks ahead before a sports event to acclimatize themselves to the weather in the area and train there.
“They also return to the place to improve their skills. Not only that, they also come with their relatives and friends in tow,” he added.
Villafuerte issued the call following reports that the Departments of Tourism (DOT) and of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are, under the Tourism Road Infrastructure Prioritization Program (TRIPP), are investing almost P31 billion in 2019 on the construction of over 1,200 kilometers of roads leading to 20 tourism clusters nationwide.
Under its National Tourism Development Plan of 2016-2022, the DOT is reportedly targets 7.4 million inbound foreign visitors this year who are expected to generate an estimated P400 billion-plus in tourism receipts.
Foreign tourism arrivals reportedly went up nearly 10 percent during the January-July 2017 period to 4.31 million, led by tourists from South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Australia.
Earlier, Villafuerte called on Congress to formally declare the province of CamSur as the wakeboarding capital of the Philippines.
Villafuerte said the surge in tourist arrivals in CamSur, which has grown twenty-five fold since 2005, propelled the province into the No. 1 tourist destination in the country in 2010.
From 58,000 in 2005, tourist arrivals in CamSur increased to 2.5 million in 201o and 2012.
“This rise has continued until present due largely to the growing recognition of Camarines Sur as a major sports and adventure tourism destination—with the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC) at the helm of this growth and cognizance,” said Villafuerte.
Villafuerte authored House Bill 7867 which declares Camarines Sur as the country’s wakeboarding capital.
Dubbed as the “best wakeboard park in the world,” the six-hectare complex is the first world-class watersports complex in Asia.
According to Villafuerte, the CWC has been credited as the main pull for tourists to CamSur, with 3 million arrivals recorded in 2013 alone.
The CWC, located in the town of Pili, is the first and only Local Government Unit (LGU)-operated Tourism Economic Zone as provided under Republic Act No. 7916.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) once cited the tourism record of CWC as a “breakthrough in Bicol tourism industry” while the regional office of the Department of Tourism (DOT) has constantly recognized its importance to the tourism industry in the region, Villafuerte said.
“This bill intends to ride the growth of wakeboarding and watersports in the country, especially in Camarines Sur, and help promote tourism in the province by declaring CamSur as the Wakeboarding Capital of the Philippines,” Villafuerte said.
Camarines Sur, Villafuerte said, was transformed into a Philippine hotspot for extreme sports and ecotourism on Villafuerte’s watch as governor from 2004 to 2013.
CWC in CamSur pioneered several world-renowned championship events and tournaments in Wakeboarding, being the first to host the annual WWA Wake Park World Championships in 2008.