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by Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay
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January 31, 2018
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Catalbas lauds ‘bright, fresh’ Parade of Lights
ILOILO City – The annual Dinagyang Festival never fails when it comes to attracting tourists and guests to the city, expressed a Department of Tourism (DOT) official on Saturday during the very first Parade of Lights celebration at the Iloilo Business Park.
“Dinagyang always delivers a high number of tourist arrivals to Iloilo City and the region,” DOT-6 regional director Atty. Helen Catalbas told Panay News after the Mayor’s Dinner on Saturday at the Megaworld Showroom in Mandurriao. “That is why we remain committed to making Dinagyang greater and grander every year.”
Prior to the Dinagyang weekend, Lea Lara of the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc. (IDFI) said they are girding for the arrival domestic and foreign tourists, as they expect more than a million people to join the revelry of the “City of Love” between Jan. 27 and 28.
“We’ve been having an estimate of one million over the weekend. But since our street parties have doubled, it should be a record breaker of about 1.5 million to 1.8 million,” Lara told reporters.
For the duration of the main events of the Dinagyang Festival, the entire 3,200-room capacity of DOT-accredited hotels in the city were all declared fully-booked.
OPTIMISTIC ON Q1
Atty. Catalbas expressed that DOT-6 is confident to reach its target of 5.5 million tourist arrivals this 2018 – especially with Iloilo’s robust contribution to the hospitality industry the Dinagyang Festival and Kalibo, Aklan’s Ati Ati-Atihan Festival both celebrated in January.
“For the first quarter of 2018, considering our target for this year is 5.5 million, we expect for the region around 1.2 million for the first quarter, between January and March,” said Catalbas.
“For Iloilo City – excluding Iloilo province – we expect around 250,000 as the area’s contribution to the regional tourist arrivals for the first quarter,” she added. “We are expecting around 1 million from Iloilo City in the entire year of 2018.”
SHINE BRIGHTER
The regional director also lauded the inaugural Parade of Lights held on Saturday, as it featured a vivid spectacle of bright floats and dynamic dancers illuminated with colorful lights.
“It’s something new. Though this is the first time for this event to be held in the city, it’s already very impressive. We hope to have more of this next year,” Catalbas told Panay News.
“I’ve seen that this is one of the biggest crowd-drawers in this year’s Dinagyang – aside from the main tribe events. Even by itself it’s an amazing form of entertainment, guests are lining the streets of the city to witness this night spectacle.”
The Parade of Lights route passed by Delgado Street in City Proper before turning to Infante Street, and proceeding to the Benigno Aquino Avenue to culminate at Megaworld Boulevard inside the Iloilo Business Park./PN
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