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CEBU CITY—After
the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese, the tourism
department is eyeing a new market to sell Cebu and its
high-end resort destinations: Indians and Russians.
Tourism
Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said talks are ongoing for
the possible regularization of Vladivostok-Cebu direct
flights.
The
tourism department is also looking at flights to Mumbai
and New Delhi. “We need to assemble more direct flights
from these tourism markets.”
He
pointed out that the huge “shopping” culture of Indians
could make the Philippines a viable destinations for
Indian tourists.
He also
pointed to the growing number of wealthy Russians and
Indians with money to spend on trips abroad.
The new
destinations will augment efforts of the tourism
department to beef up the frequency of flights to
mainland China, particularly Shenzen and Nanjing, and
more flights to Europe.
Durano
is pinning his hopes on the country’s better relations
with Middle Eastern airlines, which are providing the
supply line of visitors from Europe.
He said
national carriers Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific
are prioritizing regional and flights to the US. “Our
national carriers have no plans of going to
Europe.”
He said
Middle Eastern airlines carry the passengers from
Europe, make a stopover in the Middle East before going
to the Philippines. “Stopover cities like Doha, Qatar,
will not compete with the Philippines.”
At
present Europeans only make up some 9 percent of the
total tourist arrivals in the Philippines. Emerging
markets like Russia, however, posted a 160-percent
increase in 2007.
By
constantly targetting the high-end market, the
Philippines is able to lure high-spending tourists,
which is more valuable to the local economy, said Durano.
The
national government gave the tourism department a
$4.8-billion target in terms of tourism receipts for
2010. The target had only been reached and breached by
the department in 2007, added Durano.
“We plan
to hit P5.8 billion in 2008,” said Durano. “The
Philippines will continue to target high-value tourists
like those looking for wellness destinations, shopping,
education and ecotourism.” |
