DOT eyes 1-M Japanese tourists by 2008

OSAKA CITY, Japan – The Department of Tourism (DOT) is mounting an aggressive marketing pitch to increase Japanese arrivals in the Philippines and hit the one million mark by 2008.

"It is difficult, but still achievable," said DOT Secretary Joseph Ace Durano at the kick-off of the three-city Philippine business roadshow here that includes Nagoya and Tokyo.

The first business conference in this industrial city yielded an estimated 250 to 300 Japanese travel sales executives and officials.

Japan is one of the three priority markets of the DOT, aside from China and Korea, for attracting inbound visitors to the Philippines, with Japan the country’s largest source of market for tourist arrivals next to the US.

Durano said that to achieve the government’s target, tourist arrivals from Japan will have to increase by at least 25 percent until 2008. Last year, Japanese tourist arrivals totaled 382,000, up 18.4 percent from 2003.

He noted that from 1990 to 2000, Japanese tourists in the Philippines posted an average increase of 5.8 percent and in 2004, went up by a significant 18.4 percent, the highest percentage increase in Japanese arrivals to the country in more than 20 years.

For the first quarter of 2005, arrivals improved 7.8 percent compared to the same period in 2004.

"There is definitely room for improvement because the increase is still comparatively small when taken as a percentage of total Japanese outbound travel at 16.83 million in 2004. Our aim is to get a bigger share of the increasing outbound travelers that is projected to reach 20 million by 2007," said Durano.

To capture a bigger share of the Japanese market, the DOT and its marketing arm, the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp. (PCVC) led by its deputy executive director Rosvi C. Gaetos, are implementing an integrated marketing plan that will not only focus on the traditionally male market, but will also tap the growing 30s to 50s female market.

Durano said the DOT also commissioned a Japanese public relations agency early this year to launch its "Premium Resort Islands" or "Koko Doko" which ensured wider exposure in Japanese print and television media.

The campaign locked in on Manila and Cebu as the gateway to similar resort cities such as Davao, Bohol and Palawan which are also rich in tourist attractions, and in Subic and Clark freeport zones.

"The campaign’s theme will change stereotype and outdated images of the Philippines by rousing the attention of the Japanese through attractive visuals of Manila and Cebu as anchor resort cities. We are marketing these sites as destinations that offer high-class premium resort lifestyles."

As part of the marketing scheme, thousands of information materials were printed in Japanese, including a "Premium Philippines" website, also in Japanese language.

The DOT is also participating in the 2005 World Expo which is being hosted by Japan and has tied up with a major wholesaler in the Chubu area to launch two consumer promotions. The "Travel Holiday" promo will raffle off 100 tour packages to Japanese visitors to the Philippine Pavilion where winners can choose between Manila and Cebu as their preferred prize.

Under the "Win an Island" promo, lucky Japanese winners will have one island in One Hundred Islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan, named after them for a year.

"Our ultimate objective is of course, to create a strong, highly-positive pleasant image of the Philippines in the minds of the Japanese and at the same time create excitement over the attractive offerings and incentives developed just for this market," stressed Durano.

To further bolster interest in the country’s tourist destinations, the DOT also collaborated with the Philippine Airlines to add a fifth gateway in Japan in Nagoya, using the recently-opened Central Japan International Airport. This raised PAL flights to 31 a week to Manila and Cebu, from five Japanese ports - Tokyo, Osaka, Fukoka, Okinawa and Nagoya.

In anticipating of increase tourist arivals,Durano said that major hotels and resorts in Manila, Cebu and other key tourist spots, are building up their capacities to accommodate more tourists. He cited the 10,000 square meter Chi Spa Village at the Mactan Shangri-la that will open this month.

To ensure the security of tourists, the DOT is closely working with the other government agencies such as the Department of Defense and the Philippine Navy to implement Task Force Stingray that secures coastal and island resort destinations.

On the other hand, the "Security for Tourism Operation Program" or STOP enhances disaster coordination and preparedness among tourism stakeholders.

The Philippine business mission also includes delegations from Calabarzon, Davao, Palawan, Cagayan de Oro, Isabela, Samar and Negros Occidental.

These destinations offer alternative attractions that are still largely unknown and underpromoted in Japan.