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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
Despite the growing foreign
visitor arrivals these past years, our country still trailed behind
most of its Asean neighbors—in tourist arrivals and facilities.
Data from the National
Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) show that the total number of
visitors climbed up from 1995 to 1997 but their number gradually
declined from then on until 2001, in which the least number of
visitors was recorded.
“This might have been affected
by the difficulties brought about by the Asian financial crisis in
1997 in addition to the critical political uncertainty and peace and
order situation in the country at the onset of the third
millennium,” the NSCB said.
However, the NSCB said from 2001
until the present, statistics show a significant upward trend.
A World Economic Forum (WEF)
survey, released in the 2008 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness
Report (TCCR), shows that our country ranks 81st (up from only 86th
last year) of 130 economies assessed and surveyed.
However, despite the jump in
ranking, the country’s overall score of 3.70 was lower than last
year’s 3.79. This means our competitors improved a lot compared to
us in the various criteria.
The country lagged behind
Singapore ranking 16th; Malaysia, 32nd; Thailand, 42nd; and
Indonesia, 80th.
The Philippines was ahead of
Vietnam, which ranked 96th overall.
Abola said our country is lagging
behind our neighbors, particularly Thailand, because its market is
“mass tourism.”
“Our tourists are a little bit
on a higher income plane,” he added.
In terms of regulatory framework,
the Philippines scored 4.1 points; business environment and
infrastructure, 3.2; and human cultural and natural resources, 3.8
points.
The travel and tourism
competitive survey measures the factors and policies that make the
sector attractive to visitors.
The WEF also scored a number of
“pillars” of travel and tourism competitiveness. It included
policy rules and regulations, in which the Philippines scored 4.4;
environmental sustainability, 4.3; safety and security, 4; health
and hygiene, 3.6; and prioritization of travel and tourism, 4.4.
For air transport infrastructure,
the country scored 2.9; ground transport infrastructure, 3.2;
tourism infrastructure, 2.3; information and communication
technology (ICT) infrastructure, 2.1; price competitiveness, 5.5;
human capital, 3.8; education and training, 5; availability of
qualified labor, 5; and cultural resources, 2.
WEF estimated that the activities
of the Philippine travel and tourism industry—employing 1.3
million persons—amounted to $5.57 billion, reflecting a
4.4-percent annual growth. The travel and tourism industry
contributed about $12.3 billion to the Philippine economy.
Developing facilities
In a bid to meet the target of
five million international arrivals by 2010, the Department of
Tourism plans—is now working—to upgrade tourist facilities and
embark on overseas road shows and other marketing projects.
“Ultimately, DOT aims to
attract not only more tourists, but also higher-value visitors who
stay longer and spend more, generating more opportunities for the
country,” Secretary of Tourism Joseph Durano told The Manila
Times.
“Tourism is a really big
industry and it creates more jobs and opportunities for many
Filipinos,” Durano said, adding that “there are lots of interest
from tourists to visit various locations in the Philippines and we
can only accommodate them if we have enough hotel rooms and
resorts,” he said.
The tourism chief added that his
department will continue in its efforts to maximize the value of the
travel sector given the current available infrastructure
capabilities and resources. But the lack of infrastructure
facilities is a drawback to foreign tourism growth in our country.
It will also explore new and
innovative ways to better direct the tourism sector toward a healthy
and sustainable future.
Currently, several domestic and
foreign investors are working with the Tourism department on
projects in key tourist destinations such as Cebu, Boracay, Negros
Occidental, Bicol and Palawan.
Provincial airports, such as
those in Kalibo, Iloilo, Puerto Princesa and Bacolod are being
upgraded to receive international flights.
Projects are also underway to
improve and develop more world-class tourism destinations such as
Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Bohol and Bicol.
For 2008, the Tourism department
is targeting to spend $5 to $8 billion in tourist-facility
development. This is more than the original target for 2010 spending
of $5 billion.
Besides improving tourist
facilities, the Tourism department is negotiating with other
countries to strengthen cooperative travel-trade relations.
For one, Durano said the
government has had initial talks with the governments of Palau, the
Northern Marianas Islands, Micronesia and Marshall Islands to
improve mutually beneficial tourist trade.
“Our initial talks with the
local government officials in Micronesia opened up opportunities for
the tourism industry in both countries. At the moment, the
Department sees that it can leverage on the fact that the
Philippines is just three hours away from Guam. This makes a
paradise-to-paradise connection very possible,” Durano said.
“Guam’s tourist arrivals are
dominated mostly by Japanese and American nationals. Coincidentally,
these are two of our major target markets. We already have the
promotional programs that speak to these tourists in their home
country. Our challenge now is to create the buzz that they can
double-up on their tropical holiday experience by going to both the
Philippines and Guam,” he added.
The DOT also has on-going
promotional campaigns in Japan that will help increase tourist
volume.
“The annual selling road show
trips aims to strengthen the country’s presence among the Japanese
market, renew and establish new links, and look into new growth
sectors for the industry,” Durano said.
Japan is the third leading source
of travelers to the Philippines.
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