Malacañang on Friday bared the good news of the Philippines rising in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, which now ranks it 74th out of 141 countries.
“This is an improvement from the 2013 [WEF] report, which ranked us at 82 out of 140,” Palace Deputy Spokesman Abigail Valte said, quickly adding: “This is primarily good news for us.”
Valte said at a news briefing on Friday that this was because President Aquino has been “taking strides to craft and implement a tourism-development plan that means that tourism is not just the responsibility of the Department of Tourism, but also the responsibility of departments that have something to do with tourism.”
She cited, for instance, the international and domestic airports under the Department of Transportation and Communications, and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for fixing roads that lead to tourist destinations.
Valte pointed out that, under the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, the WEF found that the Philippines “scored very high in price competitiveness and prioritization of travel and tourism and international openness.”
“Also, we continue to see this in the figures of visitor arrivals that we have, because from 2010, it has consistently been going up. At the end of 2014, we logged in 4,833,368 international visitor arrivals for the year, and we hope to continue to see those numbers going up, as well as numbers for domestic tourism,” the Palace official said.
She foresees a boost in domestic tourism this year, given the number of long weekends for 2015. “We encourage everyone to take advantage of these long weekends,” Valte added.
At the same time, the Palace deputy spokesman said Malacañang is also pleased to note from the DPWH that the P150-million access road under the Tourism Infrastructure Program has been completed.
Valte said the project in Sitio Kalanganan, Barangay San Vicente in Baungon, connects the Rafflesia Yard, which has already been declared by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as a critical habitat of the largest flower in the Philippines, known as the bo-o, or the kolon busaw.
“So, it is the second-largest flower in the world with a diameter that can reach up to 80 centimeters,” the spokesman said, explaining that because of the new access road that has been built and completed, “our visitors and our tourists will now have an easier time to access the flower yard.”