Bohol was hailed as among top tourist destinations in the country by a Department of Tourism (DOT) official as he assured that the tourism industry remained robust despite the Marawi City crisis.

Boracay, Bohol and Palawan stayed as top preferences of tourists from South Korea, United States and China, said DOT Assistant Sec. Ricky Alegre in an online report of The Philippine Star last week.

“We have an average of 600,000 tourists – Koreans, Americans and Chinese – monthly,” he added.

Alegre ascribed the influx of tourists from South Korea to the growing Korean communities in the country while noting that most of the American visitors were mostly Filipino-Americans.

A large chunk of the Filipino-Americans arrived in the country to visit their places of origin, said Alegre.

Meanwhile, he also claimed that the number of Chinese visitors grew following Pres. Duterte’s state visit in China.

Earlier, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)-7 director Efren Carreon noted that further tourism growth is expected in Bohol as the completion of the New Bohol Airport and other projects draw near.

Last week, the Philippine Airlines launched daily flights from Incheon, South Korea to Tagbilaran City, and vice versa.

Based on data, tourist entries in the province continuously rose from 389,000 in 2013 to 455,000 and 602,000 in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

The two-year growth of Bohol tourism was twice as fast compared to the average increase in tourist arrivals in the entire region from 2013 to 2015, Carreon said. (Rey Tutas)