TOURIST HAVEN. The coastal community of Port Barton in the northern Palawan town of San Vicente. (Photo by Celeste Anna R. Formoso)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- The trend in visitor arrivals in the emerging tourist destination of San Vicente town, northern Palawan is improving, growing by around 41 percent from January to June this year compared to the same period in 2017.
Based on data submitted by the San Vicente local government to the Provincial Tourism Promotions and Development Department (PTPDD), tourist arrivals in the municipality grew from 15,974 last year to 22,518 in 2018.
The difference logged during the first half of this year is 6,544 arrivals, San Vicente municipal administrator James Inawasan told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview Monday afternoon.
“Tumaas talaga kasi sa Port Barton pa lang, daily ay may arrival noong summer na around 200 tourists. Ngayon kahit tag-ulan na, may arrivals pa rin kami na 50-80 (It really increased because in Port Barton, we have a daily arrival of around 200 tourists. Now, even if it’s already the rainy season, we still get 50-80 arrivals daily),” he said.
He said the increase cannot be owed to Boracay’s closure nor the opening of the new San Vicente Airport since the peak in the figure happened in March and the early days of April.
Their data said a big portion of the total figure, or 18,735 arrivals, were foreign visitors.
“Siguro 'di natin masasabi na dahil ito sa temporary closure ng Boracay kasi late April nangyari iyon. Hindi rin dahil pa sa San Vicente Airport dahil 'di pa naman nag-uumpisa ang commercial operation doon. Tumataas dahil talagang sumisikat na rin ang San Vicente (Maybe we cannot say that it is due to the temporary closure of Boracay since it happened late April. It’s not also because of the San Vicente Airport as commercial operation there has not started yet. It’s increasing because San Vicente is now getting popular),” Inawasan said.
He added the increase is happening even if their municipal tourism office has yet to pursue intensive marketing for San Vicente, home of the 14-kilometer uninterrupted stretch of "Long Beach" that is slowly gaining popularity worldwide.
“Hindi pa kami nag-fu-full blast sa marketing since kailangan pa namin ma-install ang ibang facilities. Itong pagtaas, sa Port Barton pa lang ang pinag-uusapan natin. Hindi pa kasama ang ibang attraction dito (We have not gone full blast on marketing it as we still need to construct other facilities. In this increase, we’re just talking about Port Barton. We’re not yet talking about those going to other attractions here),” he stressed.
Barangay Port Barton in San Vicente is increasing in popularity for its 12 easy-going island getaways with white sandy seashores surrounded by rich marine biodiversity.
Currently, he said the municipal government is working on correcting the easement zone compliance of tourism businesses in the area to prevent the degradation of its marine environment.
Inawasan said an estimated 200 notices of violations had been issued to establishment owners, by virtue of an executive order signed by Mayor Pie Alvarez over a couple of months ago.
“Marami na ang nag-umpisang umatras at magbaklas ng mga structures nila na nasakop ang easement zone. Desidido ang municipal government na ayusin itong isyu agad (Many have started to move back and demolish their structures that have encroached in the easement zone. The municipal government is really decided to fix the issue this immediately),” added Inawasan. (PNA)
