Tourism security to raise tourist arrivals, investments

Improved security in the tourism and leisure industries will sustain a rising number of tourist arrivals and increase investments in tourism infrastructures. This will enable companies to earn higher profits, train and employ more Filipinos, and lift more families from poverty. 

This is the basic message that participants from the tourism and leisure industries to the conference Protect 2008: Doing Business Amidst New Threats III is expected to convey during break-out sessions with national security officials and local government executives.

Protect 2008 is a forum for private CEOs and senior management to put forward specific proposals  on how government security officials could help in marketing tourism and in attracting direct investments by assuring tourists an adequate level of protection during their stay.

Protect 2008 is a collaboration between the Anti-Terrorism Council and the National Cyber Security Coordination Office and the private firm, Leverage International. 

The event will be held on March 6 and 7, 2008 at the Hotel Intercontinental Makati. Interested parties may call tel. 818-6828; 810-1389 or fax 810-1594 or e-mail to [email protected].

Tourism security and perception of security are important factors in  tourism. Once a security lapse such as a terrorist bombing results in travel advisories, the negative perception would linger for months or years. 

Aside from cancellations of bookings, threats of insecurity could also cause delays in direct investments in hotels or resorts.   Consideration by a corporate board to invest in building or expanding a hotel could be shelved for three years before the project is picked up from the bottom of the pile for review.

Receiving specific proposals from stakeholders in the tourism and leisure industries themselves, government security officials could implement an appropriate level of protection for tourists.

The Protect 2008 gathering will analyze the most recent threats to business, including global security, terrorist financing and counterfeiting, bioterrorism, toxic and industrial chemicals, critical business intelligence, trends and issues on cyber security.

Break-out sessions will feature networking between government security officials and corporate decision makers.  Even after Protect 2008, the networking will be sustained with the launching of the Philippine Institute for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.  This is in collaboration with Singapore’s International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, the largest counter terrorism center outside the Western world.

Protect 2008 is being organized for other industries that face high risks from terrorism assaults and vandalism such as outsourcing companies, banks and financial services firms, manufacturing factories, power companies, oil depots, gasoline companies, retailers and exporters, logistics companies, aviation and shipping firms, tourist facilities, malls, transport operations, hospitals, mining operations and government agencies.