Aton Land & Leisure Zone in Barangay Guinhalaran, Silay City is a 13-hectare Tourism Enterprise Zone composed of a Theme Park, a Lifestyle Complex, and a Commercial Complex. Set to house the first theme park in Negros Occidental, Aton Land & Leisure will develop a tourism destination and create a lifestyle area to complement and support housing and mixed use development for tourism purposes to complete Silay as a heritage area. Aton Land & Leisure Zone and Magikland Cultural Zone is located near the Silay International Airport and is also accessible from the Bacolod Port linking the markets to Province of Iloilo, among others. Silay City can be reached in 15 minutes by private car from Bacolod City, 1 hour by air from Manila, 30 minutes from Cebu, and 1 hour from Cagayan de Oro.

Located within Aton Land & Leisure Zone lies Magikland Theme Park. Magikland cultural zone will showcase Silay heritage sites of the past agricultural revolution. Magikland will also showcase cultural assets, particularly festivals, culinary assets and delicacies, music, arts and entertainment and even Negrense folklore.

Magikland Theme Park is located within the Aton Land & Leisure Zone in Silay City

At present, Silay area includes accommodations of 86 establishments with 10 first class and standard hotels; food service; travel and tour operators; resorts; and transport services. Project Cost of Php 1.108 B will give rise to the potentially doubling tourism and tourism receipts in Silay or Bacolod; providing employment of 2,000 workers, and about P100 M revenue opportunities to local entrepreneurs around Silay and the region.

TIEZA aims to create a Technical Working Group (TWG) to fast track the conversion of Silay Patag Road and Silay Airport Lantawan Road from City Road to National Road. The main objective of the transport sector in the overall development of Silay City is to meet the minimum requirements of infrastructure for a fast developing city emphasizing the construction of a rational road network and creation of traffic management systems complementary to a modern urban city. Aton Land & Leisure Zone also aims to create an alternative livelihood monocrop sugar and an alternative economic activity for the City of Silay.

With the downsizing of sugar mills as the former main source of livelihood in the province, Magikland shall provide livelihood opportunities to the affected communities. The agricultural downsizing in Negros also brought the development of the educational institutions which fed the BPO Industry thus providing an unprecedented increase in the income of the middle class; with unlimited opportunities for mixed use Tourism Zone, Lifestyle Zone, Commercial Zone, Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) and Wellness Tourism combined with Retirement Villages provide the site to be an opportunity for an integrated leisure facility.

Interested investors can avail of incentives including reduced duties for importation of equipment, generator & transformers, and accessories, motor vehicles, and deferment of income taxes.

As a whole, Silay’s tourist resources are characterized by its rich history, culture, and arts. The presence of 31 ancestral houses, officially documented by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), art pieces, natural resources, and cultural activities are distinct and will definitely attract prospective domestic and foreign tourists to Silay City. Most of its buildings and famous landmarks are traced with Spanish and American characteristics, thus earning the city name “MUSEUM CITY”. It is second to Vigan in number of ancestral houses. Silay City also boasts of a number of historical milestones in terms of arts and cultural activities. The city was honored as an “Art center” of the province of Negros Occidental.

A Tourism Enterprise Zone is an area characterized by being a contiguous territory; bearing historical and cultural significance, environmental beauty or tourism potential; having strategic access to utilities and transportation; stimulating sustainable socio-economic development; at least five (5) hectares in land area; and is at least five million dollars in investment. Private entities/corporations, Local Government Units/government instrumentalities, or Joint Venture Cooperation between the private and public sector may apply for designation as TEZs. TEZs and registered tourism enterprises are granted fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, thereby creating viable investment opportunities in the tourism industry.

With the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)’s clarification last year that the incentives for TEZs under The Tourism Act of 2009 or Republic Act No. 9593 may be enjoyed by investors even beyond 2019 until these incentives are fully realized, investors have until August 2019 to apply with TIEZA and avail of the full package of incentives.

Awarding of the Certificate of Designation for Aton Land & Leisure Tourism Enterprise Zone and Signing of the Registration Agreement and awarding of the Certificate of Registration with (from left) TIEZA Assistant Chief Operating Officer Ms. Racquel Gaerlan, TIEZA Chief Operating Officer Mr. Pocholo Paragas, Aton Land &
Leisure, Inc. Managing Director Mr. Reynaldo P. Bantug, and Ms. Marivic Lo Yao on July 26, 2018.

Interested investors may contact the TEZ Management Secretariat at (02) 512-01-14 or email us at tez.secretariat@gmail.com and tez.secretariat@tieza.gov.ph. For more information about TEZs, you may visit our website, www.tieza.gov.ph, or visit us at the 7th Floor of Tower 1, Double Dragon Plaza, Double Dragon Meridian Park, Macapagal Avenue corner EDSA Extension Bay Area, Pasay City.