Phl targets P157B revenues from eco-tourism by 2016

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines expects to reap at least P157 billion in eco-tourism related receipts by 2016, as it prepares to lure eco-tourists from around the globe to make the country their preferred destination.

This is the projection set under the National Ecotourism Strategy and Action Plan for 2013 to 2022 prepared by the National Ecotourism Steering Committee and the Ecotourism Technical Working Group of the Philippines.

With over 7,000 islands, the natural resources base of the country for ecotourism consists of a diverse array of wetland, mountains, volcanoes, rugged cliffs, seascapes, coasts, beaches, lakes, forests, caves, fields, and a rich variety of plants and animals, making the Philippines as one of the best destinations for ecotourism in Asia and the ASEAN region.

Ecotourism belongs to the category of “travel for leisure, recreation, and holidays,” which account for 51 percent (505 million) of all international tourist arrivals in 2011.

Ecotourism is among the sectors expected to grow most quickly over the next two decades.

The Convention on Biological Diversity said that since the 1990s, ecotourism has grown 20 percent to 34 percent per year. In 2004, ecotourism/nature tourism grew globally three times faster than the tourism industry as a whole.

Meanwhile, nature tourism is growing at 10 percent to 12 percent per annum in the international market.

At the domestic scene, Philippine tourism has reached 4.3 million foreign tourists in 2012, according to NTDP (National Tourism Development Plan), this is projected to reach 10 million in 2016.

In contrast, the number of domestic tourists reached 41 million in 2012 and is projected to reach 3.5 million in 2016.

The potential market size for ecotourism in the Philippines is in the range of 1.3 million to 14.2 million eco-tourists. Financially, the potential grow earning from foreign ecotourism was from US$81.2 million to US$1.4 billion from 2013 to 2016.

On the other hand, the potential earnings from domestic eco-tourists could be from P9.5 billion to P102 billion.

Visitor counts in protected areas—natural parks, and other adventure destinations show that domestic and foreign visitors in over 200 protected areas under National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) averaged 778,008 annually for the period 2000 to 2012.

Ecotourism often combines cultural and natural resources in one product in terms of culture resource base, the key cultural resources for ecotourism include festivals and events, traditional villages, museums, handicrafts, arts and crafts and local cuisine.

The NTDP has identified 78 tourist development areas (TDAs) and grouped them into 20 product-market thematic cluster destinations (CDs), which must be served by at least one or more air, sea and road gateways.

In 2012, international tourist arrivals grew by four percent to reach one billion, with Asia and the Pacific showing the strongest results at seven percent growth. This growth is expected to continue in 2013.

The UNWTO forecasts international tourists arrivals worldwide to increase by an average of 3.3 percent annually from 2010 to 2030 for a total of 43 million more international tourist arrivals annually, reaching 1.8 billion arrivals in 2030. (FREEMAN)