Tourism players: Phl's arrival target achievable

CEBU, Philippines - Although the upbeat pronouncement of President Benigno Aquino III on tourism during his recent 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) has drawn unfavorable comments from some stakeholders and observers, Cebu private sector leaders expressed optimism that the government ‘s target on tourism arrivals by 2016 is achievable.Cebu, which is one of the forefront in the country’s tourism industry, is hoping “for the best” under the Aquino administration, crossing its fingers that the President’s pronouncements on fixing the overdue problem on infrastructure will not be a mere lip service among a pile of other promises.

“The 10 million tourist arrivals target is achievable if the government can put in place the needed infrastructure on time for the convenience and hassle free trips of tourists,” said Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Prudencio Gesta.

Gesta said if the Philippines is really serious in hitting this arrival goal in the next four years, then it has to act now, as other ASEAN countries have already invested so much to have good infrastructure facilities like good airports, road network, and transportation services.

“The infrastructure roadmap mentioned by our President during his SONA is really the right direction to attract more tourists to visit our country. Let’s hope for the best,” added Gesta.

Tourism advocate, Jay P. Aldeguer likewise, expressed positive comment on Pnoy’s SONA regarding the tourism success of the Philippines in the next few years.

“I think we are well on our way to reaching our target. The government has been and will be taking strategic steps to achieve this,” Aldeguer said.

Aldeguer, whose company invested so much on developing support services for tourism development in Cebu and other areas in the Philippines, added that starting with the partial open sky policy to a well-received “It’s more Fun in the Philippines” campaign, to fixing airports are some of the key moves that will take the Philippines forward in terms of seizing the wealth of tourism.

In his SONA, President Aquino emphasized his administrations’ success in fattening the arrival counts in 2010 to 3.1 million since his administration started, from only 1.8 million in 2001.

Aquino is confident that by the end of this year, the Philippines will register a 4.6 million tourist arrivals, while for the first semester of this year alone, it has already recorded a 2.1 million arrival performance.

This upbeat projection on tourism was also supported by the President’s promise to fix the infrastructure facilities, especially airports, including the expansion of the Mactan International Airport, and the realization of Panglao Airport in Bohol.

On the other hand, National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS-Cebu) former president Jenny Franco said that unless the government will be able to convince other countries in lifting some travel advisories, and the category 2 issue, and make additional runway in Manila and Cebu airports and reduce exorbitant taxes imposed on the airlines, “I’m afraid the 10 million target cannot be achieved.”

 Franco, who also owns one of Cebu’s largest travel agencies, the Travel Vision Inc., said that the stakeholders in tourism industry are “hoping for the best” for this administration to take tourism very seriously.

She also expressed apprehensions that the construction of airports in Bohol, Legaspi, and Misamis can be done in three years. “These airports are not capable of handling big aircrafts coming from other countries.”

CCCI tourism committee chairperson Mila Espina believes that the 10 million arrival target in 2016 is hard to predict since international market changes and the Philippines still has to sustain a more effective marketing promotions.

“The DOT needs to promote more tourism options like countryside tourism as well,” Espina said. (FREEMAN)