Profitable

WHEN IT comes to travel and leisure, politicking should be set aside.
Tourism is an ideal, if not obvious, source of growth for a country teeming with natural resources, renowned cultural heritage sites and human capital to attract and reward visitors.
Fortunately for the Philippines, its tourism market remains unbridled despite tensions brewing inside (controversies involving key government officials) and outside (continuing sea tensions with China, US travel advisory due to terror threats) its coastal areas.
2014 continues to shape up yet another promising year for Philippine tourism. So far, the country has witnessed tourist arrivals in the country increasing by leaps and bounds.
According to the latest report from the Department of Tourism (DOT), for the eight-month (January-August) period of 2014, visitor arrivals reached a total of 3,267,542, recording an increase of 2.72 percent over its previous year’s volume of 3,180,903 for the same period. DOT further reports that the biggest arrival was registered in January with a volume of 461,383 while the month of August recorded the highest growth of 6.27 percent.
South Korea remains the top visitor market accounting for 23.99 percent of foreign visitors with 783,852 arrivals. The United States is second with 493,338 visitors (15.10 percent), while Japan came in third reaching 310,901 arrivals (9.51 percent). Chinese tourists continue to traipse around the country with 308,393 (9.44 percent), despite a rivalry with the Philippines over contested islands in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea.
Aside from these developments, some of the Philippines’ top tourist spots have also been gaining recognitions—giving more reasons to consider why it’s more fun in the Philippines.
Vigan City, Ilocus Sur was recently named one of the 14 finalists still in the running to included in the New 7 Wonder Cities of the World. The world heritage site is heralded for its well-preserved Spanish-era ambience and cobble stone streets. The New 7 Wonder Cities of the World will be announced on December 7, 2014. Kababayans are encouraged to vote for Vigan City through new7wonders.com.
Conde Nast Traveler magazine named Palawan as the world’s top island in 2014. The popular international travel magazine said that over 76,600 of its dedicated readers rated Palawan with 88.750, after voting for 7,721 hotels, 642 cities, 453 cruise ships and 148 islands, in an average survey time of 16.5 minutes. Palawan came first in the top 30 list, besting top tourists destinations around the world. Boracay Island snatched the 12th spot with a rating of 82.683.
With the ongoing assertive and collaborative efforts of our travel industry, increased patronage for the country’s other islands is not far behind.
DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez said that “tourism is one of the government’s priorities in pushing for the national agenda of inclusive socio-economic development, and this has helped the country earn unprecedented global interest for its many tourist destinations.”
Jimenez said that the government will continue to “seize this momentum of rising global attention to reach more markets” in order to reach its target for more tourist 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 to 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 by the end of 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 now needs to be sustainable.
(AJPress)