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'Resilient' Bohol tourism hopes to weather security woes after ASG foray

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Joel Guinto, ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA - Security concerns are unlikely to dent the long-term potential of Bohol as a tourist destination, even as it can temporarily scare away foreigners, the head of the island&#x27;s tourism council said.</p><p>At least 9 people were killed after security forces clashed with suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists in the coastal town of Inabanga on Tuesday, just days after the United States issued a travel warning in the region due to an alleged kidnapping threat.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/04/11/chocolate-hills-041117.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Chocolate Hills, Bohol. <cite> Karen Flores, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>Inabanga is around 2 hours from the white sand resort strip of Panglao and around an hour from the Chocolate Hills, said Lucas Nunag, chairman of the Bohol Provincial Tourism Council.</p><p>“Our tourism industry is very resilient,” Nunag told ABS-CBN News, noting how the province recovered from the 2013 earthquake that leveled century-old churches.</p><p>“It’s very likely that there will be some cancellations but this will be temporary,” said Nunag, who operates a 32-room hotel.</p><p>Foreigners are likely to follow travel warnings, which local travelers generally ignore, he said. Hotel rooms are fully booked for the Holy Week break, he said.</p><p>Tourist arrivals last year reached around 800,000 based on preliminary data and could reach more than 1 million this year, compared to 600,000 before the September 2013 quake, he said.</p><p>Increased frequencies of flights and inter-island ferry services have helped boost tourist traffic, which could increase with the opening of an international airport, he said.</p><p>Local tourists compose roughly 60 percent of tourist arrivals in the province. Foreign visitors are mostly from China, South Korea, the US and Europe, he said.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/04/11/20131017_bohol_tarsier-rtr.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">File photo of a tarsier in Bohol. <cite>Erik de Castro, Reuters</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>Bohol is a major tourist destination, where tourists swim with whale sharks and marvel at tiny primates called tarsiers, go on cruises aboard boats on crystal-clear rivers, and lounge at white-sand beaches.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/04/11/loboc-river-041117.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">File photo of Loboc river, Bohol. <cite>Karen Flores, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><div> </div><p>Because of its popularity with tourists, Bohol is getting a new airport at a cost of P7.77 billion. </p><p>At present, the province&#x27;s Tagbilaran Airport can accommodate 900,000 passengers yearly.</p><p>The New Bohol Airport, which will be located on Panglao island will serve over 1.9 million passengers yearly. </p><p>Nunag said the island’s beaches have grown in popularity as wedding destinations. </p><p>Bohol has been declared &quot;insurgency free&quot; by the military for over a decade. </p><p>Bohol has been declared &quot;insurgency free&quot; by the military for over a decade. </p>

<p>Security concerns are unlikely to dent the long-term potential of Bohol as a tourist destination, even as it could temporarily scare away foreigners, the head of the island province’s tourism council said.</p>

Security concerns are unlikely to dent the long-term potential of Bohol as a tourist destination, even as it could temporarily scare away foreigners, the head of the island province’s tourism council said.

'Resilient' Bohol tourism hopes to weather security woes after ASG foray

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'Resilient' Bohol tourism hopes to weather security woes after ASG foray

Joel Guinto,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 11, 2017 06:53 PM PHT

|

Updated April 11, 2017 07:31 PM PHT

Read More:

Bohol

tourism

travel warning

Abu Sayyaf

terrorism

central visayas

chocolate hills

tarsier

loboc river

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