Local tourism stalled by cheap international airfares

MANILA, Philippines - Very cheap airfares to international destinations are cutting into domestic tourism which may result in lower tourism revenues for the country, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said yesterday.

“Low priced international airfares are encouraging people to travel out of the country,” Tourism Director for Development Planning Rolando Canizal said yesterday.

“A big chunk of tourists are locals. In fact a study showed that young Filipinos travel four times a year,” Canizal said, adding that here was a good domestic travel movement.”

“It (low priced plane ticket for international destinations) makes traveling outside the country more expensive than touring the Philippines,” Canizal said. Filipinos make up 80 percent of the local tourism market.

The statement was made following the seat sale by flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) late last month during which the Lucio Tan led firm sold international plane seats for as low as $8.

The seat sale likewise angered travel agents who said they were not informed of the seat sale before hand.

In the same conference, Philippine Travel Agents Association (PTAA) president Pat Alberto said that they were disappointed that PAL, their long time partner, failed to include them in the seat sale.

PTAA said that the two-day super sale of PAL had an adverse effect on their business because PAL did not allow them to participate in the sale. PAL sold plane tickets directly to consumers via their website and offices.

PTAA said that during that week, their sales plunged by as much as 50 percent. A travel agency has an average gross sales of P5 million per week.

As a result, Alberto said that if PAL refused to heed their call to include and inform them in the next seat sale, they will be forced to implement a share shifting.

This means that travel agencies will now push the sales of other airline carriers for both international and domestic travel.

As per their agreement with PAL, Alberto said that they have an exclusive contract which means that they cannot sell tickets of other airlines for domestic travel. This means that agencies who sell PAL domestic tickets can only sell PAL and is not allowed offer Cebu Pacific or Zest Air tickets.

Alberto said that cutting the exclusivity for domestic travel will be a “big loss” to PAL given that 80 percent to 85 percent of their business come from travel agencies.

At the same time, Alberto said that they will go to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to make sure that airlines are still protecting the interest of the consumers.

Alberto said that they are not sure if safety and efficiency are not compromised as a result of the drastic reduction in ticket prices. She noted that budget carriers often delay and even cancel their flights.