By Aira Miranda

The Bacolod City Tourism Development Office anticipates between 500,000 and 600,000 tourist arrivals by the end of 2022, as Bacolod continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
"2022 is quite a good year. Slowly, we are picking up the pieces with the increasing visitor arrivals," Chief tourism operations officer Maria Teresa Manalili said on Wednesday.
 
According to data, as of Thursday, approximately 19,000 guests arrived in the city in January; 24,000 in February; 35,000 in March; 38,000 in April; 46,000 in May; and 57,000 in June.
 
Manalili stated that the projected number of 586,844 tourists by the end of the year is based on a reasonable assumption of a 284% rise from 2021.
 
"This does not include yet the tourism arrivals we anticipate for the forthcoming grand Masskara Festival in October and other upcoming events up to December," she added.
 
Manalili noted that in 2021, Bacolod had 147,582 visitors, which slightly increased by 3.12 percent from only 143,114 in 2020. Meanwhile, in 2019, before the pandemic, she said that the city recorded around 803,911 visitors. In 2020, their figures dropped by -82.19 percent. 
 
She stated that Bacolod is developing and improving priority tourism items in line with Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez's "live, work, play" priority programs.
 
MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibits) tourism, food tourism, smart tourism, and history, cultural, and arts tourism are examples of these.
 
Manalili stated that the city's key tourism objectives include making Bacolod the MICE capital and the top food tourism hub in Western Visayas and providing tourists with a comprehensive travel experience through technology.
 
Bacolod emphasizes the world-renowned Masskara Festival, which returns from Oct. 1 to 23, following a two-year absence due to COVID-19, in developing and enhancing its heritage, culture, and arts. This follows the just-concluded Bacolod Rum Festival.