FORUM ON TOURISM – Regional Director Marie Elaine Unchuan of the Department of Tourism discuss with Regional Head Franklin Gumapon, in the presence of media practitioners, issues arising from its performance in 2024 and the prospects this year and beyond in a Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum, March 4, 2025. (PIA-10 photo)
MindanaoToday.com | Cagayan de Oro lacks hotel rooms, facilities
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – While there are indicators the tourism industry here and the rest of Northern Mindanao is on an upswing, yet this regional capital could not host large-scale events, a tourism agency official said.
“There are conventions who would like to come here. However, we only have a limited venue,” said Regional Director Marie Elaine S. Unchuan of the Department of Tourism-10, in a Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum here Tuesday, March 4.
Unchuan was referring to the Atrium at Limketkai Mall and the Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. Convention Center in Barangay Indahag which have 3,000 and 5,000 seats, respectively.
Among the indicators were the modest 0.27-percent increase in the number of tourist arrivals to 2,602,956 last year from the previous year, and a 2.016-percent increase in tourism receipts to P8.1 billion in 2024 from P7.94 billion in 2023.
She said that aside from the relatively small convention venues, there are only a total of 5,000 hotel rooms and this includes all classes while some want high-end and five-star-rated rooms and amenities.
“It’s really difficult for us, hence I am encouraging investors to put more hotels and we’re hoping to have bigger (than existing ones) convention facilities,” the DOT-10 head told The Monitor Mindanao Today.
Unchuan said that although she is unsure if there are ongoing hotel expansion projects, yet she knew there are those who are building new hotels, “matter of fact, some five-star hotels are coming.” Cagayan de Oro, she said, has been a choice MICE hub in the country, particularly in Mindanao. MICE is an acronym for meetings, incentives, conventions and events.
She said there has been influx of tourists after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, especially foreign visitors, including those who took interests in dive and golf tourism events which the region hosts.
Last year alone, the DOT-10 recorded 38,860 foreign tourists who visited this city and other parts of Northern Mindanao.
The tourism agency, she said, is currently crafting tourism circuits in the country and Cagayan de Oro has been one of the destinations, thus offering foreign and domestic tourists alternative places to visit, including those within Mindanao.
In Northern Mindanao, the DOT-10 estimated that tourism-related establishments, projects and activities were able to provide income from direct and indirect employment to 670,000 persons. This includes those were hired in the construction of 210 kilometers of 170 road projects, construction of tourist rest areas, and those employed in tourism-accredited establishments. [Uriel Quilinguing/MT]
###
