No cancelled tours in wake of UK travel advisory — DOT

  “UK travelers, the top market in the European region, had 52,996 visits to Luzon, 27,480 to Visayas and 3,835 to Mindanao in 2010,” the DOT said in its statement.   “For 2011 (January-June), there were 16,377 visits to Luzon, 14,629 to Visayas and 1,225 to Mindanao.  The UK Embassy cites that most of these visits were trouble-free,” the DOT added.   The UK Embassy statement was issued after the kidnapping of  a Dutch national and a Swiss by armed men on February 1 in Tawi-Tawi. 'Unfortunate and avoidable'  The DOT said the kidnapping in Tawi-Tawi is "unfortunate and could have been avoided had the visitors taken necessary precautions many European tourists usually take in heed of these advisories.”   “Gleaning from the preceding year’s experience, the series of travel advisories on specific areas and isolated areas did not deter tourists from visiting the country,” the Tourism department clarified.   Cited in the DOT statement were figures on tourists from the Netherlands and Switzerland.  The DOT said, “combined visits from the Netherlands and Switzerland reached 47,036 for Luzon, 20,903 for Visayas and 2,423 for Mindanao in 2010.”   “For January-June 2011, Luzon received 18,237, Visayas – 11,511 and Mindanao – 795,” from Switzerland and the Netherlands, the DOT noted. — ELR, GMA News