NSO surveys most visited places in the country

ROXAS CITY, Capiz, Nov. 12 (PIA6) – Frequently visited places in the Philippines will soon be known as the National Statistics Office is currently conducting the Household Survey on Domestic Visitors (HSDV).

Capiz NSO head Engineer Frankie Dordas disclosed that they are conducting this month the said survey to measure the volume of domestic and international tourism as well as the profile and travel characteristics of domestic and outbound visitors.

“The survey will also determine the extent and economic contribution of domestic and international tourism in the country,” he said.

Based on the 2010 HSDV results, Capiz ranked 20 to have been visited by domestic travelers or 566,000 visitors in 2010, some 236,000 of whom travelled here for pleasure or vacation.

Dordas said that through this survey, which is in partnership with the Department of Tourism, information on Filipinos 15 years old and above who travelled in any place within the country from April to September this year will be known.

He stressed that the data will be very vital to the effective and efficient development and implementation of tourism plans and programs of the DOT as well as of the different local government units.

The last HSDV was done in 2010, results of which showed that the National Capital Region was the most frequently visited place with 7.1 million domestic visitors from April to September 2010, Dordas said, adding that 3.4 million visitors in said place travelled mainly for pleasure or vacation.

The other top destinations in Luzon were Cavite, Laguna, Pangasinan, Batangas, Nueva Ecija and Bulacan with more than 1.3 million travelers, he said, with Pampanga, Quezon, Benguet and Rizal as among the popularly visited places.

In the Visayas, Dordas said that Negros Occidental topped the list, flowed by Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte, Capiz and Negros Oriental.

Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental and Zamboanga del Norte were also the most frequently visited places in Mindanao, he said.

On the other hand, Dordas appealed to the 87 sample respondents from the different sample barangays in Capiz to provide the enumerators with accurate information. (JCM/Jemin B. Guillermo/PIA6-Capiz)