NegOcc seeks more DOT-accredited tour guides

BACOLOD CITY — The Negros Occidental Tourism Division has initiated the training of 27 individuals, who will work as tour guides under the provincial government’s efforts to boost its tourism industry.

The Tour Guiding Training Course, being held at the Negros First Negosyo Center in Bacolod City, is conducted in partnership with the Department of Tourism (DOT)-Western Visayas and the Tourism Educators and Movers (TEAM) Philippines-Western Visayas.

Cristine Mansinares, provincial supervising tourism operations officer, said Sunday that tour guides act as representatives of the province and play a significant role in ensuring tourist satisfaction.

They are considered as ambassadors, who will present Negros Occidental in a way that will encourage tourists to come back, she added.

Participants of the Tour Guiding Training Course with the Negros Occidental Tourism Division Team headed by Supervising Tourism Operations Officer Cristine Mansinares (seated, 3^rd from left), Ryan Sebastian (seated, 4^th from left) from the Manpower Industry Development Division of DOT-Manila, Tim Ticar (seated, 5^th from left) from DOT-Region 6, Team Philippines-Western Visayas president Dr. Gina Montes (seated, 5^th from right) and Alliance of Tour Guides in Occidental Negros president Cidni Mapa (seated, left).
Contributed Photo

Mansinares said tour guides also serve as information officers by helping tourists understand the culture of the province.

The 23-day training course is conducted every weekend until June 2.

“Through this training course, we hope to encourage the participants to apply for DOT accreditation after they graduate. They will become our back-up manpower during big conventions,” she added.

At present, there are only seven DOT-accredited tour guides in Negros Occidental.

“Given a few number of accredited tour guides, we are having difficulty especially in times of big events like meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions,” Mansinares said.

She said the Tourism Division aims to address the gap through the training course.

The 27 participants included graduating college students, retired professionals, artists and medical doctors, among others.

Mansinares said that aside from the lectures, there will be written and oral exams as part of the assessment.

Familiarization tours, field work, and researches are also included in the modules.

The graduates will receive certificates of completion from the three partner organizations. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1063495

NegOcc, Bacolod visitors boost Region 6 tourist arrivals in 2018

BACOLOD CITY — Visitors in Negros Occidental, including its capital Bacolod City, have boosted tourist arrivals in Western Visayas (Region 6), amid the six-month closure of Boracay Island in Aklan last year.

Department of Tourism (DOT) 6 Director Helen Catalbas said Thursday they have yet to release the final figures, but initial records showed the combined tourist arrivals of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City would surpass Aklan’s for 2018.

A decline of about one million tourists is expected in the region’s top island-destination due to the government’s rehabilitation efforts.

“We can no longer bring back the losses in tourist arrivals of Boracay,” said Catalbas, who was among the officials who attended the Negros First Transformative Agriculture Summit in Talisay City.

She said the slump in the tourist arrivals of Boracay Island does not necessarily mean that figures for the whole region will also decline.

In 2017, Negros Occidental and Bacolod City posted the second highest number of tourists in Western Visayas.

Based on DOT-6 figures, 5.85 million tourists visited the region in 2017, and Negros Occidental and Bacolod City’s combined tourist arrivals of 1.72 million accounted for 29 percent.

Negros Occidental alone had 892,199 arrivals, including 856,511 domestic visitors and 35,688 foreign tourists.

Bacolod registered 831,687 tourists, of whom 756,835 were domestic and 74,852 foreign guests.

Also in 2017, Aklan, which hosts Boracay Island, remained the region’s top tourist destination with about 2.22 million arrivals or 38 percent.

Iloilo province, including its capital Iloilo City, ranked third with almost 1.39 million visitors or 23 percent.

Capiz came in fourth with 229,195 tourists followed by Antique and Guimaras with 162,925 and 128,256, respectively.

Aklan is expected to recover this year, given its newly-rehabilitated island-destination considered to be more attractive to tourists. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1060724

More road networks needed in west Visayas: DOT exec

BACOLOD CITY — More road networks should be established in Western Visayas to boost the region’s tourism industry, a Department of Tourism (DOT) official has said.

DOT-6 Regional Director Helen Catalbas said in a statement on Tuesday there were 168 proposed tourism road projects in Western Visayas last year.

Of which, 79 projects totaling PHP2.48 billion were included in the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA). A total of PHP520 million worth of projects are in Negros Occidental, including one amounting to PHP90 million in Bacolod City.

“These road projects make more tourism destinations accessible to tourists and provide livelihood in the community,” Catalbas said.

As tourism facilities begin to emerge with the influx of tourists, the DOT has recognized that strong road networks often lead to better economy, she added.

Catalbas said air, land and sea connectivity is one of the competitive advantages of Western Visayas, adding that micro, small and medium enterprises are also getting a boost from investments pouring in.

“The strengthened linkage of Western Visayas to more major hubs in the Philippines made the region accessible to more domestic and foreign tourists,” she added.

In 2017, tourist arrivals in Western Visayas reached 5.8 million, with tourism receipts, or amount of spending, worth PHP128.45 billion.

This coming Jan. 29, the DOT-Department of Public Works and Highways Convergence Program on Tourism Road Infrastructure Projects (TRIP) will hold a regional consultative workshop in Iloilo City.

During the activity, the previous year’s accomplishments and updates on pending and upcoming projects will be presented.

For 2019, there are 142 proposed road projects from different legislative districts in the region.

In Negros Occidental alone, there are 11 projects funded under the last year’s GAA and will be included in the assessment.

These are comprised mostly of construction, rehabilitation and upgrading of roads in the cities of Talisay, Cadiz, Sagay, Kabankalan and Sipalay, and town of Binalbagan with an initial appropriation of PHP420 million. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1059077