DOTr, DOT eye European market

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco are eyeing the European market to boost the country’s tourism revenues.

Secretary Frasco recently told reporters that aside from the Indian market, the Department of Tourism (DOT) wants to attract more European tourists to visit the country even as the government continues to exert efforts to entice the lucrative China market to visit the country anew.

Secretary Bautista, for his part, had already been paving the way to bring European tourists to the country with the recent signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the French Civil Aviation Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines that would capacitate our aviation officials with improved oversight functions such as inspector training, airport operations and air safety. The enhancement in Philippine-France bilateral relations, Bautista said, would run parallel with the launch of direct flights between Manila and Paris before the year ends.

The initial thought from the media was that with the enhanced aviation cooperation between the Philippines and France, the country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines would finally launch direct flights to Paris from Manila, marking its return to the European market. However, PAL president Capt. Stanley Ng has doused speculation that PAL would indeed launch by the end of this year its return to European airspace. According to Ng, PAL is really planning to launch flights to Europe in the near future, but those plans would still be dependent on the delivery of new aircraft that are currently affected by a global supply chain problem. At present, PAL appears to be focusing more on resuming its flights to the US with the launch of its flight to Seattle next month.

It quickly turned out, all along, that both Secretaries Bautista and Frasco were already quietly talking to French government and aviation officials of Air France-KLM to proceed with a bilateral agreement to launch direct flights between Manila and Paris even though Philippine carriers are not yet quite ready to do so. Thus, Air France-KLM proceeded to announce that it would start operating a thrice weekly, direct flight from Paris to Manila by Dec. 7 this year, subject to approval from both the French and Philippine governments.

Secretary Bautista admitted to Business Snippets that allowing the French airline to fly to the Philippines ahead would be beneficial already so that we can attract more European tourists to the country and earn more tourism revenues. Despite the DOT still short of hitting its tourism target of 7.7 million arrivals for this year, the tourism agency has remained upbeat and continues to stick to its goal of having eight million tourist arrivals for 2025, aware that the French carrier would soon concretize its plan to fly to the country.

Of course, there is also the possibility that local airlines could enter into a code sharing arrangement with Air France-KLM to provide connectivity to the country’s prime tourist island and beach destinations. Although PAL and Cebu Pacific Air may still not have the capacity to fly to European destinations as they wait for the delivery of their aircraft orders for the time being, they could provide a direct connection to the country’s premiere island attractions such as Boracay, Bohol, Siargao and Palawan.

More island airports

European tourists to the Philippines are more likely to visit the country’s renowned and growing beach destinations, especially during the winter season in Europe and North America.

According to Albert Lay, Leechiu Property Consultants director for hotels, tourism and leisure, boosting tourism in the country would have the added benefit of enticing back Filipinos working abroad as more employment opportunities become available when more investments are poured into new hotel accommodations particularly in popular island destinations in Bohol, Siargao, Palawan and Cebu. The OFWs would return with the expertise they have gained working for world-class facilities abroad which would in turn stimulate the local economy as they earn more here.

But to bring in both domestic and international tourists to those island destinations, Lay pointed out, the Philippine government must build more airports to access the prime island destinations in Siargao and Palawan. In Palawan, particularly, Lay said, there are several up and coming beach destinations that foreign backpackers are heading to and in the process bringing attention to a wider more upscale market who prefer better accommodations.

Among the destinations cited by Lay are Port Barton and San Vicente in Palawan. San Vicente’s potential has already been spotted, with a big chunk of beachfront property already secured by powerful local families. The only thing lacking is more infrastructure in terms of paved roads and airport facilities. At present, the main airport servicing the province of Palawan is located in Puerto Princesa and the Busuanga airport in Coron, which only accommodates the turboprop ATR aircraft.

Lay, however, is of the opinion that the Philippines should target our Association of SouthEast Asian Nation neighbors first, especially those that are within a two- to four-hour plane ride away. The same sentiment was expressed by Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer Xander Lao.

Secretary Bautista thankfully is aware of the need to build more airports, and following the recent takeover of the country’s main gateway – the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Friday, is now turning his focus on bidding out more private public partnerships for several airport projects all over the country.

In a recent aviation forum of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines, Bautista cited some of those projects. These include the relocation of the Dumaguete airport to Bacong, Negros Oriental, as it has been assessed that the current airport can no longer be expanded in its current location. He also mentioned the ongoing public-private partnership (PPP) procurement activities for the Laguindingan and Bohol-Panglao airports. Other unsolicited airport development proposals, the DOTr secretary added, are those for Iloilo, Kalibo and Puerto Princesa.

The government will also launch additional PPP projects for next year. These, he said, are airports in Basco, Batanes province, Busuanga in Coron, Cauayan in Isabela, Daraga in Bicol and Tuguegarao in Luzon. In the Visayas, the airport projects being eyed for PPP include Bacolod, Calbayog, Catbalogan, Catarman, Ormoc and Siquijor. In Mindanao, the airport projects are for Camiguin, Davao, General Santos and Surigao in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, he said, the Asian Development Bank is helping the DOTr evaluate how to proceed in upgrading, expanding or constructing the airports in Busuanga, Cauayan, Tuguegarao, Basco, Camiguin, Calbayog, Catbalogan, Catarman, Ormoc and Surigao.

Furthermore, apart from Dumaguete, other greenfield airports being pursued, he said, include the airports in Masbate, Naga, Pangasinan, Siargao and Zamboanga.

Likewise, Bautista said, the government intends to develop airports in islands and communities that are in Itbayat in Batanes, Maasin and Hilongos in Leyte and in Siquijor province to improve air transport connectivity.

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