ILOILO CITY — The Department of Tourism Western Visayas (DoT-6) is expecting around 5.6 million tourist arrivals in the region for 2024.

"These targets came from the local government units (LGUs) themselves," said DoT-6 Assistant Regional Director Phoebe Zelie Areño.

"We asked them about it since we want them to live up to the targets they also set."

Among the provinces, Aklan has the highest with 2.3 million followed by Iloilo City with 900,900, Bacolod City with 800,000, Negros Occidental 617,000, Iloilo Province 330,000, Capiz 236,000, Antique with 160,000, and Guimaras with 147,200.

"The LGUs do not go beyond the 10 percent increase since the basis on their targets is their capacity to receive tourists. The range for this number is around 5 to 10 percent increase from last year," Areño added.

The target tourist arrivals for this year are 90 percent domestic and 10 percent foreign, she said.

Areño said that as of July 7, the entire region has recorded the arrival of 1.3 tourists and a revenue of around P23 billion.

In 2023, Region 6 collected P70 billion from the 5.3 million tourist arrivals.

To boost tourism, DoT 6 has lined up international open water swim circuits in Sipalay City in Negros Occidental, Sicogon Island in Iloilo, Taklong Island in Guimaras, and Boracay Island in Aklan.

Areño also said they aim to diversify the region's portfolio through multidimensional tourism, including the establishment of a slow food circuit and a sugar heritage trail.

"There are a series of consultative meetings being conducted with stakeholders and LGUs for the Unesco tentative listing of Western Visayas Sugar Heritage Landscape as a World Heritage Site," Areño said.

To enhance connectivity and convenience for tourists, there are a total of six operational Wi-Fi internet access points in identified tourist destinations, mostly located in Aklan.

The establishment of free Wi-Fi hotspots, undertaken by the DoT in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, is also proposed for tourist destinations in Bacolod City and Iloilo City.

The region currently has more than 1,900 tourism enterprises recognized by DoT-6.