“WE travel to see the beauty of souls in new landscapes,” influential Ghanaian writer and youth advocate Lailah Gifty Akita once said. Nothing can be truer than this, for when we travel to new places, we not merely stand in awe at the eye-catching landscapes but also bask in the beauty of the souls that we meet along the way.
The truth is that people love to travel, and they will do so whenever they get the chance. This is the reason tourism has always been an important part of any country’s development, not only because it touches on human beings’ natural inclination to seek out beautiful and exotic places, it also touches on people’s inherent penchant for showcasing their pride of place.
This is also why tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors in the global economy.
The value of tourism
Tourism’s value cannot be overemphasized. Not only is it a major catalyst in the sociopolitical development of any country, it also stimulates economic activity and growth by generating the much-needed foreign exchange and hiking the country’s domestic earnings.
Tourism also spurs cross-cultural interaction among the citizens of the world, thus promoting mutual understanding, cultural appreciation and even tolerance—something that we badly need today.
However, although tourism has always been a dynamic industry, it needs to constantly adapt to the tourists’ changing needs and desires, as well as the demands of a growing clientele to thrive.
There must be a dynamic and flexible national plan that not only acknowledges that customer satisfaction and safety are the focus of the tourism industry but also recognizes the need to adjust the tourism objectives to the current sociopolitical situation. It is, therefore, important for any country that hopes to fully tap the potential of its tourist spots to constantly assess its tourism development plan and modify it when necessary.
The National Tourism Development Plan
The last National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) of the Philippines took effect from 2011 to 2016. In this plan, the medium-term framework was set to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s tourism sector. This was done by marketing diverse destinations and products, improving international and domestic access, as well as connectivity and destination infrastructure, addressing policy and institutional reforms and improving the tourism sector’s human resource skills and capabilities.
So much has been achieved in these areas, though. In fact, the Department of Tourism recently reported that more foreign tourists have arrived in the Philippines this year, even staying for more days at a time and spending more money.
Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo disclosed that January arrivals alone totaled 631,639, an impressive 16.48-percent growth from the 542,258 total in the same month last year. This year’s tourist arrivals generated a total of P21.681 million in receipts.
In her report, Teo said, “We have to keep the momentum going now that we are in the implementation phase of the Tourism Development Plan for 2017-2022, which aims to unleash the potentials of our tourism industry and make it more competitive.”
And making our country more competitive as a tourist destination is exactly what the new NTDP aims to achieve. The 2016-2022 NTDP seeks to build and upscale the implementation of tourism programs through a focused and prioritized approach designed to deliver a more competitive, sustainable and inclusive tourism sector.
Untapped attractions
Although the previous Tourism Development Plan’s achievements were impressive, there is still a need to bring to fore and promote more competitive destinations and products and develop potential new tourist attractions.
Looking deeper into our country’s bag of beautiful tourist spots, we will find a lot of untapped attractions just waiting to be enjoyed—the raw and rugged beauty of Masbate, the great rock formations and long white beaches of Northern Samar, the amazing diving spots and unspoiled beaches of Tawi Tawi, and the secluded coves and paradise beaches of Sipalay in Negros Occidental, to name just a few.
If the tourist influx in the first month of the year is any indication, the Philippines may be experiencing a tourist boom in 2017. We just have to build on the momentum created by our successful hosting of the Miss Universe pageant in January and ensure that those who came here for the pageant will have more than enough reasons to stay longer or come back for more.