Government urged to create strong tourism brand for RP

MANILA, Philippines - Players in the tourism industry are asking the government to create a strong tourism brand for the Philippines in order to get eight million visitors by 2016.

In a statement, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) vice president for Tourism Sammie Lim said the Philippines should target eight million international tourists by 2016. Only after achieving this can the country become a serious tourist destination, he said.

Lim said that though challenging, this is certainly achievable provided that the efforts of the Department of Tourism is focused towards achieving this goal while at the same time, targeting quality tourists that will bring-in tourism receipts of about $10 billion.

Following the one is to 1.2 ratio of tourists to jobs generated, eight million tourists will create nine million jobs. Likewise, domestic tourism figures should also double in six years.

Lim added that the Philippines must have a strong tourism brand such as that of Amazing Thailand and Malaysia Truly Asia. The country brand should be nurtured until the optimum level of brand recognition is reached, he said.

Likewise, he said that the new tourism secretary should immediately address the downgrading of the Philippines to Category 2 by the Federal Aviation Administration more than two years ago. This has severely affected the entire tourism industry as it gave a general false impression that it is unsafe to travel to and within the Philippines, Lim said.

“A competitive tourism industry is a powerful economic driver that can generate billions of investments and millions of jobs,” Lim said.