Manila: The Philippine government will adopt an open skies policy, start infrastructure development like air and seaports, and train people in tourist-related industries in order to double, in six years, the $2.2 billion revenue from tourism in 2009, a local paper said.
The country's tourism attaches abroad will actively begin selling the destination to high-end and family-oriented tourists, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim told the Star.
Sources told Gulf News that the refurbished airport in the former US Clark Air Base in Angeles, Pampanga might be utilised for the country's plan to adopt the open skies policy. Two terminals at the international airports in Manila's Pasay City will be reserved for the country's flag carriers.
Better products
At the same time, "there is no need to send [out] teams from Manila ]to sell the Philippines as a tourist destination] abroad," Lim said, adding, "We need to develop first-rate products and come up with impeccable services to draw more tourists. We have to be more visible by generating very good projects and we should deliver what we promised."
Lim, a hotel developer, also called on investors for the development of more hotels nationwide.
He called for the development of cultural areas, including museums with wide display areas, adding these projects will promote the rich culture and history of the country.
Almost all destinations in the Philippines, including the 3,000-year-old rice terraces on the mountains of Banaue in northern Luzon; the over-crowded Boracay Island, famous for its talc-like white sand beach in central Philippines; eco-tourist areas near volcanoes; anthropological sites nationwide; marine-rich diving sites; and historical areas must be preserved and developed to make them tourist-friendly, said Lim.
All these areas are better when compared with what other countries have. These are natural investements for a tourist boom in the Philippines, said Lim.
Not satisfied with branding the Philippines as a land of smiling and hospitable people, Lim said that Filipinos who are in tourist-related industries must be trained to be the best in the region.
Those involved in medical tourism, including English-speaking tourist guides, taxi drivers, and waiters must be taught the value of real expertise, good manners, and honesty, said Lim.
Product improvement, replied Lim when asked to describe his approach in creating a tourist boom with real tourists who want quality vacation in the Philippines.
More than three million tourists came to the Philippines in 2009, lower than the number of tourist arrival in 2008, the start of the global financial crisis in developed countries.
Exports surge
Philippine exports rose at a faster pace in May as the global recovery spurred demand for electronics, sustaining the nation's economic expansion and supporting President Benigno Aquino's efforts to boost incomes.
Shipments abroad increased 37.3 per cent from a year earlier to $4.24 billion after climbing a revised 28.2 per cent in April, the National Statistics Office said in Manila yesterday. That compares with the median forecast for a 25.5 per cent gain in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists.
Asian exports rebounded this year as customers in the US and Europe increased purchases of Philippine-made Texas Instruments Inc. semiconductors and South Korea-produced Hyundai Motor Co. cars. Still, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas may keep its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 4 per cent last week to support the nation's recovery as the European debt crisis threatens global growth, economists surveyed by Bloomberg say.
"Rising exports would mean more jobs for Filipinos and may spur investments," April Tan, head of research at CitisecOnline.com Inc. in Manila, said before the report.
— Bloomberg
