The year year 2014 may be considered as the luckiest year for South Cotabato in terms of tourism promotions as the province’s tourist arrivals peaked at 462,897, according to the report of the Provincial Tourism Office.
Tourism Officer Anna Liza Mondejar disclosed that the total guest arrivals for 2014 include 459,054 domestic visitors and 3,843 foreign visitors.
It is big leap compared to the previous years, as the data provided by the Tourism Office showed that in 2013, tourist arrivals reached 168,789 only.
The record further showed that tourist arrivals in 2012 totaled 176,035, 2011 – 224,491, 2010 – 139,645 and 2009 – 113,443.
“Same Day Visitors” or commonly called “excursionists topped the visitors last year with 246,672 coming within the province, 82,463 from other provinces while 2,319 were foreigners.
Meanwhile, “Overnight Stay Visitors” or literally classified as “Tourists” in the industry parlance totaled 230,329 domestic visitors and 1,524 foreign visitors last year.
The favorite tourist destination is still Lake Sebu, the province’s summer and tilapia capital and home to Southeast Asia’s highest and longest zipline ride.
Aside from Lake Sebu, other destinations frequented by visitors are Linan Tarsier Sanctuary and Mt. Matutum in Tupi, Lake Holon in T’boli, T’Daan Kini in Lake Sebu and other places of interests in the province.
