ATTRACTIVENESS OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN CALABARZON: INPUTS TO BUSINESS OPERATIONS INITIATIVES

This study will identify the attractiveness of tourism in CALABARZON. More specifically: it will to evaluate the level of attractiveness of tourism industry in CALABARZON in terms of cultural proximity, destination environment, price, destination image, risk and reward, and geographical proximity; to test if investment climate significantly affects attractiveness of tourism industry in CALABARZON; to propose a tourism development plan based on the results. The researcher used descriptive method to determine the investment climate and attractiveness of tourism industry in CALABARZON. The questionnaire is one of the major instruments used by the researcher to gather and collect the needed data. Results showed that majority of the respondents belonged to the young age group, female, single, college graduate and has an average income. The tourists, local residents and local government unit all agreed that CALABARZON region is moderately attractive to tourists due to competitors of tourist destination on the good services provided among them. Investment climate has an effect on the attractiveness of the tourism industry in CALABARZON region. The researcher proposed business operations initiative win order for the tourism industry in CALABARZON region more competitive.