Philippines new campaign “It’s more fun in the Philippines” make waves, enticing the country to hit a high in tourist arrivals during the first half year of 2012.
MANILA- Tourist arrivals in the Philippines have surpassed the two million mark during the first half of 2012, a senior government official said last Friday. The top sources of foreign visitors during the first half of the year include South Korea, the United States, Japan and China.
Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Ramon Jimenez said the country welcomed a total of 2,143,506 foreign visitors from January to June this year, 11.68 percent higher than last year’s 1, 919,400 visitors. He attributed the increase in tourist arrivals to the government’s strong campaign “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”
“Since the campaign launch in January, we have been actively spreading the ‘Fun’ to all corners of the globe. We expect to see more tourists during the peak season before the year ends,” Jimenez said. He also cited the government’s current policy reforms to facilitate entry, infrastructure development to improve travel within the country, fresh investment to expand transportation, accommodation and recreation facilities, and product enhancement in attracting more tourists in the Philippines. “All these will help realize our year-end target of 4.6-million visitors,” he added.
On Saturday, Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte urged Filipinos to cooperate with the Aquino administration in order to sustain increasing tourist arrivals in the country. “We continue to ask for your cooperation to show to our friends outside that it’s really, it’s truly more fun in the Philippines,” she said in an interview over state-run radio station.
The government said that if the quota for 2012 is reached, this would mean additional 1.5 million tourists, higher than the record of the previous government. The Department of Tourism of Philippines targets to increase the annual tourist arrivals in the country to 10 million by 2016.
(Source: Xinhua)
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.
