Mindanaotoday.com | Camiguin launches new tourism brand name
By: Franck Dick Rosete
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Domestic and foreign tourists should expect a much more convenient system and a wonderful vacation experience in Camiguin following the newly-launched tourism brand name, “Camiguin Isle Be There” at the New Capitol Building in Mambajao town Friday, March 17.
Improving various tourist spots and embracing digitalization and innovation upon entering and within the province are two of the local government’s focus areas in tourism as part of the measures to recover from the loss due to Covid-19, said Gov. Xavier Jesus Romualdo in an interview on Friday.
Romualdo said because of the continuous decrease in Covid-19 cases, the province of Camiguin gained the full confidence to completely push for tourism with new branding as the population was already protected through vaccination.
“We decided to embark on a new branding and campaign in tourism to push Camiguin into the minds of the people that it’s a place that they can go to,” he added.
Well-improved destinations, an electronic ticketing system at various tourist spots, and the technological progress of the arrival terminal in Binoni Port are among the developments in the province.
It can be recalled that tourists, including residents, were prohibited from entering and visiting the tourist destinations in Camiguin for two years when the pandemic started. The province opened its doors for tourists around October 2021.
Despite the reopening, the provincial government did not reach the pre-pandemic level as they only tallied around 120,000 tourists in 2022, Romualdo said.
In 2019, more than 800,000 domestic and foreign tourists visited Camiguin, and brought in an estimated P4.8 billion in tourist receipts.
Romualdo said they started their journey this year, 2023, towards getting back to the pre-pandemic level and getting on track to breach one million tourists by 2025.
“Our goal is bold and quite ambitious, but we have the tools and are in the right position to reach it,” he said in his opening speech during the Camiguin tourism brand name launch.
The governor also acknowledged the significant role of peace and order in boosting the tourism industry, noting the solid collaboration between the provincial government and Camiguin Police Provincial Police.
He said police visibility has been secured as a security measure in order to provide assistance not just for the tourists but also for the residents of the province as well.
On the same day, Romualdo, together with Department of Tourism-10 director Marie Elaine Unchuan and provincial tourism officer Candice Dael led the ribbon cutting of the new arrival terminal facility at the Binoni Port in Mahinog, Camiguin.
With the said facility, all arriving tourists and residents will be thoroughly checked with the use of different scanner machines.
The provincial government urged new tourists to secure their ‘Clean Camiguin QR Code’ which can be accessed to www.cleancamiguinqr.com, where they can put their basic information, as well as important documents such as valid ID and vaccination card.
“The tourism brand name ‘Camiguin Isle Be There’ was chosen because the provincial government wanted people to think ‘I’ll be there’ once they saw the promotional materials of the province,” said Romualdo.
The word “isle” was also chosen as replacement of “I’ll” to immediately identify that Camiguin is an island. (MT)
###