IN travel and leisure, it seems that politics are set aside.
Contrary to its implications, the escalating conflict in the ongoing territorial dispute over the Spratlys does not interfere with travel plans of Chinese tourists to the Philippines.
On January 9, China’s Oriental Morning Post hailed the Philippines as one of the “Best Tourist Destination for 2012.”
The award, based on a consumer survey by the Chinese newspaper, is given on the annual World Travel – Special Trips Awards.
Other winning countries in the category are Ireland, Korea, Singapore, Finland and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
According to Consul General Charles C. Jose, who accepted the award at the Twelve At Hengshan in Shanghai, China, the Philippines remains a sought-after market for Chinese tourists, through aggressive promotion and strategic partnerships with the local media.
Likewise, 2012 witnessed tourist arrivals in the country continue to increase by leaps and bounds.
For the eleven-month (January-November) period of 2012, 3,830,723 visitor arrivals to the country, an 8.73 percent increase compared to the previous year’s volume of 3,522,887 for the same months.
South Korea remains the top visitor market, accounting for 24 percent of foreign visitors with 922,083 arrivals.
The United States is in second place, with 560,456 visitors during the same period last year or 15.32 percent of the total inbound traffic.
Japan came in third reaching 357,248 arrival or 9.8 percent.
Although disrupted by a travel ban imposed against the Philippines, China is still the fourth largest tourism market for the country — providing 233,174 of 6.09 percent.
Hong Kong also made a substantial contribution to the overall arrivals, with 108,155 visitors from last year.
The steady stream of Chinese visitors was briefly interrupted during the summer, but picked up again by the third quarter.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) is targeting more Chinese tourists this year by attending major travel fairs in China and offering ‘familiarization tours’ for travel agents and the media.
Local carriers reactivated chartered flights covering several routes in China, in time for the Chinese New Year holidays. By the second and third quarters of this year, more routes will be opened to Chinese visitors accommodate summer and Chinese National Day holidays.
2013 meanwhile, is shaping up to be yet another promising year for Philippine tourism.
Recently, popular international travel magazines, Conde Nast Traveller and Travel+Leisure, recognized the country as one of the hottest destinations this year.
“Boracay hogs the spotlight, but there are thousands of other islands to lure beach lovers,” Travel+Leisure posted on its website, Travelandleisure.com.
“For travelers willing to go the extra thousand miles for a deserted beach, the Philippines has around 7,000 of the most heavenly islands in the world. It’s still not the most obvious beach-holiday destination, but it soon will be,”Conde Nast Traveller told of the Philippines in its website, cntraveller.com.
Philippine Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez said that “these recognitions are a result of what we have painted. These are the fruits of a renewed confidence and enthusiasm for the tourism industry, as well as a result of our intensive promotional activities here and abroad. It’s always nice to know that our country is being recognized for its beauty and hospitality of our people.”
“2013 holds a lot of opportunities for the development of tourism including the full implementation of new accreditation standards for hotels, resorts, and accommodation, as well as the various tourism infrastructure projects lined up from 2013 until 2016,” Jimenez added.
For the next three years, the DOT aims for more tourism arrivals. Under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), the country aims for 10 million more foreign visitors by 2016, as well as 35 million Filipinos traveling their motherland. PDP also expects tourism to generate more jobs and create socio-economic development, especially in rural areas.
Philippine tourism continues to exceed expectations and is poised to set another all-time high this year. The short term outlook is very positive, especially being backed by a strong local economy.
It is a fast-growing industry and a major source of revenues and investments, but like any form of development, it needs to be sustainable.
(AJPress)
