Malapascua Island. /Cebu Daily News photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Despite controversies hounding Mayor Vicente Loot, Daanbantayan town that is located in Cebu’s northern tip continued to attract both local and foreign tourists into their locality.
From holding the 7th spot among the top 10 tourism destinations in Central Visayas in 2017, the municipality already ranked 4th last year, said an advisory posted on their Facebook page this afternoon which quoted data from the Department of Tourism in the region.
The first class municipality closely followed Panglao Island in Bohol province and Cordova and Sta. Fe towns in Cebu that occupied the top three spots.
Daanbantayan’s advisory posted at 5 p.m. today says that their town welcomed 117, 991 local and foreign tourists last year or an increase of 33.64 percent compared to the 2017 tourist arrivals of 88, 291.
Foreign visits reached 89, 648 last year which made the town the third most visited locality by foreign tourists in Central Visayas.
The DOT survey covered 45 cities and municipalities in Central Visayas, said the town’s FB page.
Isla de Gato that is located off Malapascua Island is one of Daanbantayan town’s most popular dive spots. / Cebu Daily News photo
Daanbantayan is known for its white sand beaches and breathtaking dive spots found in Malapascua Island, home to the famous and magnificent thresher sharks.
Another emerging tourist destination in this northern Cebu town is the tropical island of Carnaza where an Eco Park and the Skull Cove is found, it added.
While Mayor Loot have not been publicly visible, he continues to update his constituents of his administration’s initiatives in making their town a top tourism destination through their Local Government Unit’s FB page.
On February 18, their town’s FB page announced the opening of the Kandaya Food Park near their town plaza in Barangay Poblacion where locals and tourists can dine and unwind.