The Philippines continues to beef up its promotion of opportunity markets and its collaboration with regional neighbors as it aims to sustain the country’s upward trend in international visitor arrivals this year.
This was announced by Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco during her sit-down interview with journalists on Wednesday (Aug. 7) in Makati City.
While the country is aiming to register 7.7 million international tourist arrivals this year, Secretary Frasco described the figures as a "moving target", considering the existing challenges the industry is facing, including specific geopolitical issues, underscoring that the economy is thriving through tourism.
"We recognize the challenges that persist, especially from the arrivals from the Chinese market, so it is a moving target I would say; taking into account the realities that we face. Even so, we are working as hard as we can to make sure that not only on the arrivals but more importantly, on the visitor receipts. Our economy continues to thrive through tourism," she said.
As of August 7, 2024, the country has already received a total of 3,622,635 inbound visitors, of which 92.13 percent, or 3,336,021 are foreigners while the remaining 7.87 percent, or 286,643 are overseas Filipinos.
South Korea still tops the list of source markets in terms of arrivals with a solid 960,809 (26.37 percent); followed by the United States of America (USA) with 590,861 (16.22 percent); China with 223,954 (6.15 percent); Japan with 221,430 (6.08 percent); and Australia with 152,835 (4.19 percent). Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia, complete the sixth to the tenth list.
Additionally, from January 1 to July 31, 2024, the country already earned PHP323.68 billion in estimated visitor receipts. This was 13.18 percent higher than the PHP285.99 billion earned in the same period last year.
"We are hoping to be able to attain the target, at the same time, we are rolling up our sleeves in terms of the challenges that confound us," the Secretary told the editors.
"We continue our very heavy promotions in terms of our top source markets so that we would be able to increase tourist arrivals from these areas and as I have mentioned, these include South Korea, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and including Europe," she said.
ASEAN as one bloc
Even with the Philippines' efforts to enhance its global tourism competitiveness, the tourism chief highlighted the country's observation of its ASEAN counterparts as benchmarks for enhancing tourism, when she was asked by editors to make a comparison with the Philippines' performance in tourism on a regional scale.
She likewise noted that sustainable and responsible tourism remain the pivotal aspects of regional collaboration.
"We recognize our neighbors in the ASEAN as models for how we can further improve Philippine tourism. We have forged engagements with our ASEAN neighbors in terms of ensuring that we are able to get a share of their tourism arrivals as well," she said.
"We have found commonalities among us, which then encourages us as far as our growth and development, now that we see them not just as our competitors, but as our collaborators," she added.
She noted that the DOT is strategically working with Thailand for the two-countries-one-destination arrangement.
"We are heavily pursuing the continuation of the Bangkok-Cebu flights especially since diving is a very popular tourism product as well as English as a Second Language. We are coordinating with our other ASEAN neighbors as well, as we are very interested in joining the initiative to obtain one visa and be able to visit several ASEAN countries," she said.
The liberalization of visa policies will also entice more visitors to come to the country, primarily the Indian market.
PH being an “expensive destination”
During the roundtable discussion, the Secretary also answered some pressing questions, including the narratives from some travelers that the Philippines is slowly becoming an "expensive destination" compared with its ASEAN neighbors.
Among other factors, the Secretary raised that the high demand versus the availability in accommodation establishments and flights are a factor.
"In comparison to our ASEAN neighbors, data from the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) would show that our average USD100 per night is actually lower than the average price of hotels in the ASEAN region. Nonetheless, we recognize that there are external inflationary pressures that dictate upon all the components of pricing," she said.
"From our end, we are working very closely with PHOA as far as strategically inviting in and continuing to entice tourism investment as far as increasing the number of rooms for the country. We have to understand that the availability of the rooms also dictates the price, and with a very robust domestic market as far as tourism is concerned, it is always in high demand. So, the idea is to increase the number of rooms from its present 221,000 to 440,000 by 2028, as well as to increase the number of flights coming into the country considering that at present, the Philippines ranks sixth as far as the number of international flights and seats coming into the Philippines," she emphasized.
Strengthening connectivity to make prices tourist-friendly
The Secretary mentioned that the DOT is continuing to push forward its collaboration with the private sector, primarily international aviation partners to improve connectivity to and from the Philippines from existing and emerging tourist markets.
In terms of domestic tourism, the Philippines is the top performer in ASEAN, according to the tourism chief.
According to the 2022 data of the World Travel and Tourism Council, Philippine domestic tourism generated a staggering USD53.3 billion, illustrating its critical role in the recovery of the country post-pandemic. Thailand came second, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Brunei Darussalam.
She described this tourism component as "very encouraging" with many Filipinos flying in and out of their residence to travel locally; some even engaging in "workation" setups at destinations.
While the DOT is currently equalizing all tourism opportunities across all regions, it could not be denied that some destinations, like Batanes, as raised by editors during the interview, demand a very high fare requirement considering its location, weather condition, among other factors, to which the Secretary also agreed.
"We continue to collaborate with our domestic aviation partners, of course, Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, and present to them the concerns of our stakeholders. Chiefly, the governor of Batanes and I spoke to, and that was her number one concern which we then relayed. I am hoping that with the additional fleet of Cebu Pacific, they would be able to make their pricing more competitive. And with the forthcoming additional fleet by the Philippine Airlines in the latter part of 2025, I hope that it will improve," she answered.
To cater to the tourism needs of the island, Batanes has been identified as one of the recipients of the additional 22 Tourist Rest Areas (TRAs) the DOT is constructing beginning this year, and with a target turnover of the complete facility in 2025.
The DOT is also doing several initiatives to further open Mindanao to tourists including Sulu, a rarely visited destination that boasts a kilometer-long stretch of white sand beaches and crystal-clear waters that is part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), according to the secretary.
She added that the Department is working with the stakeholders of the Kalayaan Group of Islands in the West Philippine Sea to explore tourism opportunities in lesser-known destinations, including the putting up of mabuhay accommodations, even in the farthest islands of the country.
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