In attracting German tourists, Phl lags behind Asian neighbors

CEBU, Philippines - Despite being tagged as a rising star in tourism in the recent World Economic Forum, the Philippines still lags behind its Asian neighbors in attracting the second largest tourist group in Europe – the Germans.

German Embassy Commercial Counsellor to the Philippines Christof Wegner said the Philippines should intensify its marketing blitz in Germany so as to encourage German tourists to come and explore the Philippines, giving them a more diversified option apart from their usual Asian favorite, which is Thailand.

Wegner said in an interview that the Philippines, despite its charm, continues to lag behind other Asian countries, such as Thailand and Indonesia, in attracting German travellers.

He said the country could lure the high-spenders such as the German tourists if proper marketing will be initiated in Germany.

German tourists are “crazy” about attractions in eco-tourism, adventure and outdoor activities, nature-related attractions, which is now being strengthened by the Department of Tourism (DOT).

According to Wegner the Philippines will be able to attract more German tourists, as these attractions are here.

In fact, he added that the Philippines has more than enough attractions to lure German visitors, however, the country is not yet well known to the German traveling community, but it has a good potential of becoming one of the favorite destinations of Germans if proper promotion will be started.

Aside from the weak promotion, the Philippines also lacks tourism infrastructure such as accessibility and inter-linking of transportation facility between destinations within the country.

He emphasized that a good travel package should be developed as well as providing easy transportation access from one destination to the other.

Wegner cited that a travel package to the “rice terraces” for instance or to other top destinations in the Visayas such as “chocolate hills” in Bohol, should be well coordinated, and access should be easier for tourists.

Clearly, he said the issue of direct flight or easy air access to bridge the Philippines and Germany is a big issue, but a good package of inter-linking the top destinations in the Philippines, highlighting the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” tag line is surely an irresistible attraction for foreign tourists, like the adventurous Germans.

In January of this year, German arrivals to the Philippines only reached 6,389, based on the latest DOT record.

Meanwhile, the DOT-7 in a separate interview, said that more than beaches, cultural heritage, shopping and others, Cebu is now moving up to intensify its niche in adventure tourism, and other outdoor and nature activities either within the urban cities, and countryside areas.

DOT-7 regional director Rowena Montecillo said that the tourism offer is now adding more activities to offer to the growing number of tourists demanding for more outdoor events.

According to Montecillo, there are a lot of municipalities in Cebu that offer adventure tourism related activities, like trekking, biking, zip line, among others.

While Bohol is known for its attractive eco-tourism and agri-tourism advantages, Cebu  on the other hand, is seen to leverage on adventure tourism edge, while there are also growing number of investors who have expressed interest in building adventure tourism related facilities within the province. (FREEMAN)