BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi—A total of 55,085 foreign and domestic tourists visited Tawi-Tawi in 2015 and spent close to P1 billion during the 12-month period, a Department of Tourism executive of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said.
DoT-ARMM Secretary engineer Marites Maguindra said the visitors came to the country’s southernmost province for holiday and business purposes and spent P985 million for various activities in major local tourist destinations, including Pamanangan Island, Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi, Sapa Sapa Island, Sanga-Sanga island, and Turtle Island named after the thousands of turtles which crawl year-round to its kilometers-long white sands to lay their eggs.
Maguindra said DoT-ARMM is also set to develop local eco-tourism packages, such as promotion of scuba diving, island hopping, and touring scenic destinations and communities to further entice more visitors.
Staying in local hotels, inns and beach houses for a week or two, the tourists also regularly patronize the Bongao public market to purchase abundant fresh fish which they themselves usually cook or broil, agal-agal (seaweeds) and shells as well as native products not found in other areas.
Maguindra noted that based on the region’s tourism department’s annual report, much of Tawi- Tawi’s income is derived during its week-long Agal-Agal festival in April and the annual celebration in Simunul island town of the inauguration of the centuries-old historic mosque built by Skeikh Kanimul Makhdum, the first Arab religious leader to come and spread Islam religion in Southern Philippines.
She said regional public works and highways Secretary Don Mustapha Loong recently earmarked P55 million for the development of the province’s scenic Bud Bongao Peak, including the construction of a multi-purpose hall, view deck, station point, concrete pathway, parking area and informational billboard.
The development of Bud Bongao Peak, Maguindra said, is expected to later increase tourist arrivals and boost the Tawi-Tawi local government’s income.