By Recthie T. Paculba
CAMIGUIN (PIA) — Tourist arrivals in Camiguin surged by 37.86% in 2025, reaching 397,818 visitors, even as the provincial government faced major data limitations due to the suspension of its Smart Tourism system, Gov. Xavier Jesus Romualdo reported during his State of the Province Address, January 6, at the New Capitol Building, Mambajao.
“Because of the preliminary injunction issued by the court in the ongoing case challenging our Smart Tourism Ordinance, we were prevented from using our Smart Travel or QR code system starting last year,” the governor said, noting that this limited the precision of tourism data compared with previous years. Without the system, the province struggled to distinguish residents from visitors and determine nationalities, especially as “more than 654,000 people passed through our ports and airport over the past year.”
Despite these constraints, the Provincial Tourism Department consolidated available data to reflect tourism trends on the island. “While these figures may lack the precision of our Smart Travel system, they still reflect sustained mobility and greater interest in Camiguin as a destination,” Romualdo said, adding that the situation underscored “why data-driven systems matter—and why we remain committed to restoring and strengthening smart tourism for the province moving forward.”
Based on the compiled data, tourist arrivals climbed from 288,558 in 2024 to 397,818 in 2025, with 376,322 domestic tourists and 21,496 foreign visitors. This represents a 39.3% increase in local tourists and a 15.7% rise in foreign arrivals. Although origin data could no longer be tracked, the governor said on-the-ground observations showed that “a significant portion of our foreign visitors were from Europe,” highlighting Camiguin’s continued appeal to the European market.
Romualdo said the province is now on track to meet its target of at least 30% annual growth in tourist arrivals from 2025 to 2028, a pace that would bring Camiguin back to its pre-pandemic level of at least 800,000 visitors by 2028. To sustain momentum, the provincial government expanded promotions under the Isle Be There campaign, joining major tourism fairs nationwide and earning accolades such as Best LGU Booth at the International Travel Festival in Cebu and Most Interesting Booth at the TravelTour Expo VisMin in Iloilo.
The province is also preparing to bring its tourism campaign back to the global stage, with Camiguin set to participate in FITUR, the Feria Internacional de Turismo in Madrid, from January 21 to 25. Alongside international promotions, the provincial government strengthened its digital and media presence and continued to leverage festivals and major events as tourism drivers, including the Panaad and Lanzones Festival, which drew tens of thousands of visitors.
Looking ahead, Romualdo highlighted the Isle Visit Camiguin 2026 campaign and major upcoming events, including the Ironman 5150 Camiguin on May 3–the first international sporting event to be held on the island. “Tourism in Camiguin continues to bounce back strongly,” the governor said, crediting sustained promotion, careful planning, and a commitment to quality and sustainability as the province works to generate livelihoods and elevate Camiguin’s standing as a premier destination. (RTP/PIA-10/Camiguin)
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