‘Reputation, not open skies, key to tourist arrivals’

The travel advisories issued by the US, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore to their citizens to avoid the Philippines should make open skies proponents realize that reputation, rather than increasing the number of flights by foreign carriers, is what determines tourist arrivals, according to the Save Our Skies (SOS) Movement.

SOS, which is advocating for progressive liberalization, said the Freedom to Fly Coalition (FFC), a group pushing for open skies, has been wrong in espousing an open skies policy to attract tourists.

"The Freedom to Fly Coalition (FFC) has the mistaken belief that by allowing more foreign carriers to fly to the Philippines, tourists will visit in droves. This is not the case," the SOS said.

It stressed that how other countries perceive the Philippines – more than the availability of airline seats and flight frequencies – determine tourist arrivals.

Japan has advised its citizens not to travel anywhere in the Philippines while the US has warned Americans to avoid Mindanao. Although Japan is the second biggest source of tourists after the US, its travel advisory is a big blow to tourism. It was learned that some P150 million will be lost daily or P4.7 billion a year as a result of the Japanese travel ban.

"Even if we open our skies to mega carriers of the US and Japan, no American or Japanese tourist will come as a result of the ban, supporting our position that we must first fix our reputation here and abroad to attract tourists," the SOS said.

It said that besides image and reputation, the other major factors that will attract tourists include security, peace and order, infrastructure, accessibility to tourist spots and availability of tourism facilities.

The movement, which is spearheaded by the travel and tourism industries, wants that substantive safeguard measures be in place to ensure the long-term growth of the air transport sector.

These safeguard measures include protecting local economies and the aviation, tourism and travel sectors as well as workers’ security, and upholding the welfare of domestic carriers.

"We want to make sure that all grants of air rights are market-oriented, to be determined on a per country and per route basis," the SOS said.

"SOS is not against the promotion of trade and tourism. In fact, it actively supports any policy that would boost the economy. But SOS is against the excessive interpretation and reckless implementation of progressive liberalization," it added.

It stressed that air policies do not have to be implemented under the terms and conditions that apply in other economies, specifically developed economies, simply because economic situations differ from country to country.