NAGA CITY -- Tourist arrivals in Bicol continued to be upbeat through the months of 2007 and as the year closed the Department of Tourism (DOT) is expecting to breach a 1-million mark.

        DOT Director Nini Ravanilla expressed optimism the tourist arrivals of one million at the end of the year could be achieved for the first time.

        “If this happens, Bicol will formally be enlisted as an emerging choice tourist destination in the country, as it joins the elite club of tourist drawers of one million and over on a year-round basis,” Ravanilla said.

        DOT records show around 694,733 tourist arrivals during the third quarter period, a significant increase of 51 percent from last year’s period, a record of 458,737.

        The upswing of tourist arrivals this year peaked during the second period with a 37 percent growth and it accelerated by 14 percent during the third quarter period.

        Consequently, the latest regional gross receipts earned from tourist arrivals increased to P364 million from P255 million at the end of June this year.

        Still, according to the latest DOT statistics, among the six Bicol provinces, Albay continues to lure most foreign tourists at 36,000 arrivals, even though Camarines Sur consistently shows a remarkable record of foreign tourist arrivals of 28,851 at the end of the third quarter period.

        The Camsur Watersports Complex (CWC) remains to be a favorite destination of foreign tourists and the celebration of Naga City’s Peñafrancia Fiesta as it recorded arrivals from 12,864 to 28,861 tourists at the end of September in Camarines Sur.

        In the first nine months, the upbeat trend of tourist arrivals in Bicol has been led by Camarines Sur, including the chartered Naga City, with a record of 350,944 tourists visiting the province, which comprised 51 percent of the regional total of 694,733 tourist arrivals.

        On a year-on-year basis, 2006-2007, Camarines Sur has posted phenomenal growth rate of 114 percent as the island province of Catanduanes emerged the second fastest, achieving 66 percent growth rate.

        Some 17,064 foreigners have been lured to visit the island province of Catanduanes in the northeast of Bicol peninsula, with as many as the 19,439 visiting local tourists who came here from January-September.

        Tourist arrivals in Catanduanes increased to 36,503 this year from 21,940 of last year’s third quarter period.

        Another island province in Bicol, Masbate, is catching up in the number of tourist arrivals as it posted a growth rate of 44 percent, making it in the third rank tourist destination in the region.

        But unlike Catanduanes, Masbate’s tourist arrivals is composed mainly of locals with 80,335 on the record while the number of foreign tourists at 2,304 is the lowest in the region.

        Sorsogon province continues its record decline in tourist arrivals, from -18 percent in the second quarter period to -26 percent in the third quarter period.

        Its tourist arrivals were down to 38,851, of which domestic arrivals pulled down the annual growth rate with a decrease of some 6,520, from the 48,308 of last year’s record to 31,788 of this year.

        Albay province, the top rank tourist drawer of Bicol until 2005, has still to get over the slowdown of tourist arrivals with only an 18 percent growth rate achieved during the third quarter period.

        The province of Camarines Norte continued to slump with only a five percent growth rate from last year’s total tourist arrivals of 55,964 to 59,899 at present; its foreign tourist arrivals, the second lowest in the region.