The presence of the PATA Travel Mart in Manila gives to the Philippines the opportunity to highlight the new dynamic in its tourism industry.
REPORT – PHILIPPINES – MANILA 2012 PATA TRAVEL MART : Ramon R. Jimenez Jr, Philippines Secretary of State for Tourism, sees PATA Travel Mart as the right place to showcase the Philippines to the travel community. PTM opening ceremony on September 25 was filled of festive Filipinos performers offering a colourful and fun show modeled after the country’s new tourism slogan; “This is more fun in the Philippines”.
The task is immense to raise in fact awareness about Asia’s second largest archipelago of over 7,000 islands. “The Philippines never forged its tourism image. Consequently, tourism has been a little bit sluggish as few information was made available on key markets”, recognized the Secretary of State.
The Philippines expects to welcome this year some 4.5 to 5 million foreign travellers, an effectively modest figure in Southeast Asia compared to its neighbours Malaysia,Thailandor even Indonesia… “We might have only five million travellers but we first look at the quality of the visitors rather than just targeting quantity. And if we consider tourism revenues, we are very much on pair with other countries in the region”, added Ramon Jimenez. In the national plan for tourism which covers the period 2011-2016, the Philippines expects to come to an annual volume of 10 million foreign visitors ( an average annual growth of 17%) and receipts of US$ 4.52 billion (up by 11% on an annual basis over the period).
The strategy of building thePhilippines’ image around the slogan “it’s more fun” means a rather different approach from neighbours, as it highlights the human element of tourism. “Tourism is built by people. It is everyone’s business”, likes to say Ramon R. Jimenez.
No iconic symbol for the country then but in contrary a multitude of places, experiences which will match the expectations of travellers in each key market. “We identify the potential of each market and then look at promoting the Philippinesaccording to the trends there. It gives then the possibility to emphasize more areas and products, a good way to spread tourism benefits among all communities”, added Benito C. Bengzon, Jr. Assistant Secretary, International Tourism Promotions.
And to make tourism development more efficient, the Department of Tourism works now hand in hand with the Department of transportation as well as the Department of Works and Construction. “This is essential to act as a one single unit with tourism expressing the necessary requirements of the industry. We are now levering authorities at a single level. Times of a multiplicity of decision levels is over”, said Ramon R. Jimenez. The new administrative structure should help transform Philippines tourism into a seamless travel experience. “ Beside the image building, infrastructure and access are a priority”, acknowledged the Secretary of State.
When will results be visible? “We are now into this transformation process of our image with many marketing initiatives being launched and new infrastructure projects on approval. Just expect another 18 months to really start to see all the benefits of our work”, assured the State Secretary…
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.
