Published on Sun.Star Network Online (http://www.sunstar.com.ph)
by Debra Magallon-Estero
THE Department of Tourism (DOT) will roll out a “stimulus-like” package to encourage chosen markets to travel and spend in the Philippines despite the weakening of many economies worldwide.
However, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano clarified this is “not a dole-out” from the government but rather “a support to the industry.”
The stimulus plan will come in the form of competitive tour packages to different target markets like Japan.
The number of Japanese tourists coming to the Philippines decreased last year.
Under the plan, Durano said, the DOT will work with volunteer airlines to offer discounted rates for Tokyo-Manila and Tokyo-Cebu routes.
Promo
Flight rates, which is planned to be slashed by 50 percent, will be offered to the market in the next three months starting February.
Instead of refunding airlines the price difference incurred by the discounts, the DOT will implement programs promoting the flights, said Durano.
The DOT chief is optimistic that the country will be at the forefront when the market bounces back.
“(Before), the number one constraint (of the industry) was capacity. Starting this year and in the next two years, new capacities will open up and we will achieve another growth spurt,” he told members of the media last Friday.
Durano was the guest of honor at the Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa after the establishment officially announced its being declared an economic tourism zone.
Capacity
Durano said that most of the tourism facilities that open in the next two years came between 2005 and 2006, like the Imperial Palace.
Citing the results of a DOT-commissioned study, Durano said the Philippines has the capacity to accommodate both the domestic and international travelers in the next two years.
The DOT has commissioned the Center for Research and Communications to compute the country’s tourist capacity, including present and future air seats.
“(But) there will be no excess capacity. (At present) hotel rates are not decreasing (their prices) and that means the demand is high,” he said.
By 2012, the DOT targets five million tourist arrivals in the Philippines.
In the meantime, Durano said revenues for the next three years will come from high-value products like scuba diving, ESL(English as second language) courses and medical tourism.
“Tourists (who get) these (products) are recession-proof markets,” he said. (DME)
Source URL: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/stimulus-tourism
Showing posts with label Durano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Durano. Show all posts
Sunday, February 1, 2009
‘Small’ markets help RP
Published on Sun.Star Network Online (http://www.sunstar.com.ph)
by: Debra Magallon-Estero
DESPITE the decreased arrivals of tourists from the country’s regular travelers, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano revealed the “smaller markets” has helped the department “almost” achieve its growth target for 2008.
In an interview last Friday, Durano said tourist arrivals last year grew by two percent, or close to 3.2 million tourist arrivals.The Department of Tourism (DOT) has set the 2008 target at 3.5 million.
“We are one of the remaining markets that still achieved positive growth in the world,” Durano noted.
He said that in 2008, close to 50 percent of the country’s regular traveling market has decreased.
This includes tourists from Japan, Korean, the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“The Japanese arrivals were better than expected,” he said but added that last year there were two million less Japanese travelers worldwide.
“But even when a bulk of the volume went down, the growth of the smaller markets (helped),” he said.
Among the emerging markets are the Russians, a market that grew 34 percent. French arrivals also increased 18 percent while tourists from the United Kingdom grew 10 percent. Australians and Taiwanese arrivals also grew between six and eight percent.
Durano, who said tourist arrivals will continue to contract this year, also believes the industry can still “manage to outperform the market” with close to two percent growth from last year by the end of 2009.
“We can only perform as well as the market will allow us to perform,” he added. (DME)
Source URL: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/%E2%80%98small%E2%80%99-markets-help-rp
by: Debra Magallon-Estero
DESPITE the decreased arrivals of tourists from the country’s regular travelers, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano revealed the “smaller markets” has helped the department “almost” achieve its growth target for 2008.
In an interview last Friday, Durano said tourist arrivals last year grew by two percent, or close to 3.2 million tourist arrivals.The Department of Tourism (DOT) has set the 2008 target at 3.5 million.
“We are one of the remaining markets that still achieved positive growth in the world,” Durano noted.
He said that in 2008, close to 50 percent of the country’s regular traveling market has decreased.
This includes tourists from Japan, Korean, the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“The Japanese arrivals were better than expected,” he said but added that last year there were two million less Japanese travelers worldwide.
“But even when a bulk of the volume went down, the growth of the smaller markets (helped),” he said.
Among the emerging markets are the Russians, a market that grew 34 percent. French arrivals also increased 18 percent while tourists from the United Kingdom grew 10 percent. Australians and Taiwanese arrivals also grew between six and eight percent.
Durano, who said tourist arrivals will continue to contract this year, also believes the industry can still “manage to outperform the market” with close to two percent growth from last year by the end of 2009.
“We can only perform as well as the market will allow us to perform,” he added. (DME)
Source URL: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/%E2%80%98small%E2%80%99-markets-help-rp
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