PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The City Tourism Department (CTD) is targeting to bring one million foreign tourists here to contribute to the national government’s aim of 7.5 million.
Promotions and Marketing Officer Michie Meneses of the CTD said Friday that Puerto Princesa in 2017 drew around 900,000 tourists, compared to 2016’s 856,764.
Meneses said that based on their computation, the city’s tourism industry could manage to contribute one million tourists.
“So far sa ginagawa naming computation malalampasan pa talaga natin ang total tourist arrivals ng 2017 na dumating dito lungsod (So far, in our computation, we would surpass our tourist arrivals in 2017 in the city),” she said.
She added the CTD is intensifying its social media campaign in order to reach the global market.
“We are utilizing our page because it is the cheapest way of promoting our tourist destinations,” she said. For 2018, the CTD has a budget of PHP2 million for promotions and marketing.
Meneses also said that they were banking on the city’s various Community-Based Sustainable Tourism (CBST) sites that coulf attract foreign guests, who wish to have a rich and high-quality experience.
“Bini-build up din natin ang ating mga CBST clusters para malaman na marami pa palang i-o-offer ang Puerto Princesa sa kanila (We are also building up our CBST clusters for our guests to know that Puerto Princesa has more to offer them),” she said.
Meneses added that they would beef up their efforts to attract investors who could help in the construction of much-need tourist facilities. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
