The holiday economics being pursued by the government to boost domestic tourism, trade and investment activities in the country paid off as hotels and resorts, including transportation companies, reported "good business" during the two consecutive long weekends last holiday season.
Based on the reports of the regional offices of the Department of Tourism (DoT), there was an increase in the number of Filipino travelers to popular holiday destinations such as Boracay, Cebu, Davao, Bicol and even Baguio, despite the meningococcemia scare.
All modes of transport, particularly the RO-RO service traversing the RP Nautical Highway, leading to these destinations were also fully booked.
In Boracay, five out of seven resorts obtained a 100 percent occupancy rate from Dec. 24 to 27 and Dec. 30, 2004 to Jan. 2 this year. Some 1,129 rooms were occupied by 2,708 tourists, 2,172 of whom were locals and 536 were foreigners.
Sea Wind, Villa de Oro, Nirvana and Fridays were the top resorts in Boracay with an average occupancy rate of 96 percent.
Meanwhile in Cebu, more tourists stayed in beach resorts than hotels during the holiday season. The beach resorts posted a 14.68 percent average hike in occupancy rate for the period of Dec. 24-27 and Dec. 30, 2004 to Jan. 2, 2005. The top beach resorts in Cebu were Cebu Marine, Costabella Tropical and Alegre Beach Resort.
Moreover, air, land and sea transports in Region 7 recorded an average seat occupancy of 100 percent.
Four beach resorts in Davao recorded an 86 percent occupancy including the Paradise Island Beach Resort and Megrande Beach Resort (100 percent occupancy rate), Barcelo Pearl Farm (75 percent) and Eden Nature Park and Resort (82 percent).
Tourists continued to troop to Baguio City during the Holidays as the average room occupancy was recorded at 70-90 percent during the Dec. 24 to 31, 2004 period. While majority of the travelers opted to stay in the cheaper type of accommodations, not to mention the transient houses in the city, Burnham Hotel recorded a 100 percent room occupancy in Dec. 28 to 31.
Land and sea average seat occupancy in Central Mindanao (Region 12) during the two long weekends stood at 100 percent. The air average seat occupancy was recorded at 93 percent.
The average occupancy rates in Dec. 24-27 in Camarines Norte, Albay, Sorsogon and Masbate were reported at 51.77 percent, a slight decrease from the 57.36 percent occupancy rate recorded in Dec. 24-28, 2003.
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