By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror
THE Department of Tourism (DOT) projects an increasing number of tourists from Thailand, with an “exchange tourism” agreement recently concluded with the Philippines.
The DOT’s confidence is also boosted after travel agents from Thailand said they were coming to Manila in September for the Philippine Travel Exposition (Phitex), and tour major destinations in the Philippines, according to a news statement from the DOT.
This developed as the Philippines registered a 13-percent hike in foreign visitors from January to May 2016, according to latest data from the DOT. The top 5 sources of foreign tourists were South Korea at 576,332 (up 5.6 percent from January to May 2015); the United States at 377,595 (up 7.7 percent); China at 285,348 (up 81 percent); Japan at 223,042 (up 9 percent); and Australia at 108,382 (up 6 percent).
“Total earnings gained from tourism activities from January to May 2016 amounted to about P106.61 billion. This recorded a double-digit growth of 13.53 percent compared to P93.91 billion earnings for the same period in 2015,” a report from the DOT said.
Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo was in Bangkok recently to participate in the celebration of the 84th birthday of Thailand’s Queen Sirikit, who was born on August 12, 1932. Teo was there on invitation of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
In 2015 visitors from Thailand dipped by 4.2 percent to 44,038. Tourists from Thailand account for less than 1 percent of the total foreign visitors to the Philippines. From January to May 2016, visitors from Thailand grew by 7.8 percent to 20,703, accounting for 0.82 percent of the total foreign visitors for that period.
During the DOT chief’s working visit, she met with Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports, who offered to cooperate with the Philippines and explore projects in farm tourism, youth development, as well as women and indigenous communities.
Teo, likewise, met with the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) at the Tawana Ramada Hotel. It was during that meeting that TTAA President Suparerk Soorangura revealed that his group would be visiting Manila and tour the cities of Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
Soorangura said their group especially wants to see the Mayon Volcano in Legazpi, go deep-diving, shop and get a taste of authentic Filipino cuisine, the news statement added.
Teo, a top travel executive and tourism advocate herself, said she could learn from the Thai tourism executives in the government and private sector on how they were able to catapult their country to become one of the most favored destinations by travelers in Southeast Asia. In 2015 Thailand received 30 million foreign visitors, up 20 percent from 2014. It also earned some $45 trillion in tourism receipts in 2015, up almost 11 percent from 2014.
In contrast, foreign visitors to the Philippines reached 5.4 million in 2015, an 11-percent increase from 2014. It earned $5.3 billion in tourism receipts last year, up 1.3 percent from 2014.
Teo was treated to a grand reception by the Royal Thai Navy and toured the Royal Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha Temple, the Queen Sirikit Textile Museum, the Bang Pa-in Summer Palace, Bang Sai Royal Folks Arts and Crafts Center and the Asiatique Riverfront mall.
The DOT secretary said she felt at home during her four-day visit to Bangkok because the Philippines and Thailand share a lot in common in terms of its scenic destinations, culture, traditions and quiet hospitality.
“I realized that one would find their sceneries somewhat familiar to those that we have here but what struck me is the fact that we have a lot more to offer,” Teo said.
She was invited to promote the Philippines in the Thai International Travel Fair in February 2017.
Meanwhile, the DOT reported that other top visitor markets for the Philippines in the first five months of 2016 include Taiwan at 89,792 visitors (+29.45 percent); Canada at 82,340 (+11.42 percent), the United Kingdom at 76,275 (+14.85 percent); Singapore at 75,756 (down by 2.12 percent); and Malaysia at 60,911 (down by 6.5 percent).
The DOT report pointed out that countries with substantial growth in inbound traffic during the five-month period were India with 36,823 arrivals (+17.85 percent); France with 28,336 (+24.20 percent); Spain with 11,737 (+26.14 percent); Sweden with 12,852 (+19.18 percent); Switzerland with 14,152 (+9.88 percent); the Netherlands with 14,088 arrivals (+12.81 percent); and Denmark with 9,038 (+25.39 percent).