CEBU CITY – Over 500,000 foreign tourists visited the province of Cebu last year, data from the Department of Tourist (DOT) showed.
In its 2022 Overnight Arrival Report, the DOT said that aside from 544,290 foreign tourists, a total of 2,210,664 local tourists also visited Cebu last year.
Cebu’s major cities, Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandue, were the most-visited places in the province last year.
Cebu City ranked No. 1 after it recorded 1,063,503 tourist arrivals last year. It also had the highest number of foreign tourist arrivals among all the local government units in Cebu with 221,983.
Lapu-Lapu came in second with 584,872 tourist arrivals followed by Mandaue with 369,416.
The town of Santa Fe in Bantayan Island, one of the most popular beach destinations in the province, ranked fourth after tallying 134,770 tourist arrivals last year.
Two of the favorite tourist destinations in Cebu, Daanbantayan and Moalboa, were at fifth and sixth places, respectively.
Dalaguete town only recorded 62 foreign tourist arrivals but it welcomed 40,591 domestic tourists to get the seventh spot.
Known for its whale shark-watching activities, Oslob claimed the eighth spot with 40,648 tourist arrivals.
The cities of Bogo and Toledo also made it to the top of most-visited places in Cebu.