Cagayan de Oro City is ready to host "world-class" events, an official of the Department of Tourism in Northern Mindanao (DOT-10) said.

DOT-10 Director Ellaine Marie Unchuan cited the success of the Mindanao Tourism Expo on April 26-28 as an example of how the city government and private stakeholders could efficiently deliver hospitality to guests and participants from other regions.

"Secretary (Christina) Frasco was here (during the event), and she was happy to know that Cagayan de Oro is ready for 'world-class' events," she said during a program at the city hall.

The expo was attended by not only the seven regions in Mindanao but also other regions in the Visayas and Luzon.

Unchuan said the Mindanao "tourism circuits" were reintroduced during the expo and could provide additional routes for tourism operators in the future.

Cagayan de Oro is one the major gateways to Northern Mindanao, which  accounted for 4.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) at 5.5 percent last year, a point less compared to the 5.6 percent in 2022, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report on Friday.

It ranked seventh among all regions in terms of GDP contribution, which the National Capital Region topped at 31.2 percent.

In terms of growth, Northern Mindanao ranked ninth nationwide and second among the regions in Mindanao, following Davao.

Central Visayas posted the fastest growth at 7.3 percent in 2023; Western Visayas ranked second at 7.2 percent; and Ilocos Region third at 7.1 percent.