Filipino President is sure that the Philippines are heading into a record year in tourism, especially after the implementation of its pro-tourism policy…
MANILA- During a courtesy call to the participants of the 7th Consuls-General and Tourism Directors Tour, President Aquino expressed his confidence that the Philippines are due to reach a record number of travellers this year, largely exceeding fixed targets. “Our achievements in this sector are real and tangible. Just to give you an idea: in the first five months of 2012 alone, we welcomed over 1.8 million tourists. This number is more than half of the yearly average of three million arrivals in the years before we took office. This number represents also 39.6% of the 4.6 million tourist arrivals we hope to get this year-and historically, we get even more visitors in the second half of the year. If all goes as planned, it seems that we will achieve, and maybe even breach this target,” Aquino said. “We didn’t reinvent the wheel here; we just relied on a simple strategy: to make it easier and more fun for tourists to come to the Philippines,” he added.
The President highlights the positive changes he introduced since coming into power such as a selective open skies policy for regional airport. “This has led to an increase in incoming and outgoing flights by almost 15 percent from January to June this year and to a similar increase in inbound and outbound passenger traffic growth for both international and domestic travellers,” he said.
Among other measures facilitating tourism, President Aquino mentioned the construction and improvement of many roads leading to tourist destinations as well as the development and upgrading of airports. In a few years, new airport facilities will be available at Bohol, Legazpi while Cebu and Puerto Princesa in Palawan are being upgraded. A priority road project is now the connection of the North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways, due to be completed by 2015. “Once that is done, the travel time from Clark in Pampanga to Calamba in Laguna will be reduced to about an hour and fifteen minutes,” he said.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
![[PR] PR_Ascott and Vimut Hospital_2024](https://www.traveldailynews.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PR-PR_Ascott-and-Vimut-Hospital_2024-400x265.jpg)
