BUTUAN CITY – The Department of Tourism-Caraga said 1,442,032 foreign and domestic tourists visited the region last year.

Caraga earned P17.3 million from these visitors – P16.5 million from domestic and P759,000 from foreign tourists who accounted for 4.4 percent of the total arrivals in 2023.
These foreign tourists were from USA, Spain, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, Korea, Netherlands, and France.
“We are expecting to double the tourist arrivals this year,” DOT-13 Regional Director Ivonnie B. Dumadag said.
Dumadag said the safe and peaceful atmosphere are the main reasons why visitors continue to arrive in different tourist locations in the region. “Good accessibility also plays a key factor in the continuing increase of our tourist arrivals,” she said.
She noted that local government officials in the Caraga are becoming more aggressive now in terms of tourism product development.
“The good road condition in tourist destinations and safe and peaceful atmosphere in different areas are the main reasons of continuous tourist arrivals in our region,” Dumadag said during the 71st Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (RLECC) meeting organized by the Police Regional Office-13 here on February 20.
The meeting served as an avenue to present and discuss the peace and order situation in the region and operational accomplishments of PRO-13 from January 1 to February 19, 2024.
As a member of the RLECC-Caraga, Dumadag pledged to the committee her continuing and unending support to the goal of having a safe and peaceful region.
Due to a peaceful and safe atmosphere, she announced that they will continue to invite more tourists to Caraga for the economic development of every locality. “Our tourism industry really helps a lot to the living condition to our local communities,” Dumadag said.