Senate office vows to boost Phl tourism industry

MANILA, Philippines - With the Philippines getting citations for being one of the world’s best destinations over the past two years, the Senate is working on measures to improve further the country’s standing among the best tourist-friendly countries in the region.

The Senate Economic Planning Office (SEPO) said the country’s tourism industry is expected to grow significantly with the approval of tourism-related measures, including the proposed Visit Philippines Act, Online Travel Safety Act, Responsible Tourism Act, National Scenic Byways Program, Medical Tourism Act, Travel Agents Act, Travel Tax Reform Act and the National Ecotourism Policy Act.

The measures are pending before the Senate committee on tourism led by Sen. Manuel Lapid.

“Currently, the Philippines is developing its niches in diving, medical travel and wellness, and cruise destination. With its advantage of having English as a second language, it is also developing its education tourism niche,” the SEPO noted.

Records of rising tourism arrivals have helped the aviation industry secure Category 1 status from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A Category 1 status allows local carriers more flights to US destinations, the Senate planning office said.

The Senate planning office also said that despite the country’s ongoing maritime dispute with China, more Chinese visited the country in 2014 than in 2013. Chinese tourist arrivals posted 8.5-percent growth in the first seven months of 2014 as against the previous year’s figure.

SEPO reported that South Korea remains the country’s top tourist market, comprising more than a fifth (23.1 percent) of the total inbound traffic.

However, there was a noticeable decline in the number of South Korean tourists as well as those from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The next biggest markets are the United States, China, Japan and Australia. Tourist arrivals from Malaysia, United Kingdom and Canada also picked up during the same period.

South Korean tourists made up the biggest group from January to July in 2014, totaling 662,228, followed by US tourists with 449,793 arrivals. China was in third place with 268,028, followed by Japan (259,086) and Australia (126,745).

In the sixth to 12th spots were Singapore, Canada, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Germany.

The arrivals translated to P189.8 billion in tourism receipts in 2013. Form January to July 2014, foreign tourists spent P126.33 billion, up by 15.3 percent from the figures in the same period in 2013.

Citing a report from the tourism department, SEPO said the industry is the fourth largest source of foreign exchange earnings in the country.

In terms of employment and contribution to the economy, tourism directly employed 4.9 million people.

In 2013, SEPO said tourist arrivals increased to 4.7 million or 9.7 percent higher than the previous year’s 4.3 million but short of the DOT annual target of 5.5 million.

Political and diplomatic problems as well as the spate of natural disasters – particularly the Bohol and Cebu earthquake and Super Typhoon Yolanda in the last quarter of 2013 – adversely affected tourist arrivals that year.