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BANGKOK—Notwithstanding fears of the adverse impact of
the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) downgrade
of the Philippines’ civil-aviation system to Category 2,
Filipino tourism executives attending a regional forum
here have revised upward tourism targets for the next
two years based on past years’ performance.
“I think
our marketing efforts for the past two years really
worked,” Department of Tourism Undersecretary Oscar
Palabyab told BusinessMirror here.
Palabyab
said the country’s performance in the past two years
provided the basis for the upward revision of this
year’s tourist arrival and tourism-receipt target from
3.88 million to 5 million inbound tourists; and from
$3.56 billion to $5.6 billion.
The
Philippine tourism department also set a $6-billion
target in revenue for 2009.
Palabyab
said the
Philippines
remains focused on high-value tourists who continue to
visit the country and contribute to the economy, despite
the strengthening of the peso against the greenback.
“I think
we’ve also shrugged off the image that it’s not safe to
travel to the Philippines. The world has gotten used to
our theatrics,” he said adding the political noise
hasn’t hurt the country’s tourism industry.
During
the media briefing on the Philippines, Palabyab said the
country has allotted more attention to drawing more
high-value tourists to the central Philippines. This
island-grouping, he explained, is composed of the Bicol
Region and the Western, Central and Eastern Visayas;
specifically, the islands of Palawan, Romblon, Camiguin
and Siargao.
These
areas, he added, are also where the country’s beaches,
its major advantage, are found.
“The
government has given more attention and allotted more
resources to these areas because it makes sense to
develop more capacity there to attain our targets,”
Palabyab said.
He added
more capacity-building activities are expected to occur
in these areas. |
