According to the state of the region report of Antique Governor Sally Perez, the tourism business in Western Visayas had suffered a remarkable blow in 2008. But in some way the fast development of IT (information technology) and BPO had benefited the province in 2008. In a meeting at L' Fisher Hotel, Perez, Chairperson of the Regional Development Council, stated that the advent of tourism was decreased by 14.8% in 2008 compared to 2007; this means that the financial crisis merely affected the industry.

In addition, the population of foreign tourists improved by 3.5%, while the number of domestic tourists roughly trimmed down to 26.4%. The top tourist destination in the region was Boracay Island which acquired 6.3% increase in local and foreign tourist coming. Western Visayas sustained its promotion of tourist spots in Sipalay City, San Carlos City, and Mambukal. Negros Occidental and other provinces of Western Visayas are also included in this survey. Based from the records, Iloilo City has 9 call centers with a total of P164 million reserves and 3,120 workers, whereas Bacolod City has 7 call centers with P730 million reserves and 4,935 workers. [via]