Secretary Mina T. Gabor, who has just recently been awarded "Travel Personality of the Year" in Beijing. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) cites the Philippines' relative political stability and much improved international image, upbeat local economy, and increase in tourism investment as factors that favor increased tourist trade.
Other factors that enhance Philippine tourism are the strategic location of the Philippines at the crossroads of the Asia-Pacific, massive tourism infrastructure development under the 20-year Tourism Master Plan and the aggressively intensified marketing campaign to sell the Philippines abroad as a prime tourist destination, a leading venue for convention, exhibition and special events and an attractive investment haven.
We see a very bright future for Philippine tourism. From 1992 to 1996, visitor volume grew at an average of 16 percent. In 1996, the number of visitors surpassed 2.0 million, generating US$2.60 billion in visitor revenue. The Japanese market contributed 3.61%. Over the last 5 years, the average growth of this market has been 12%. At a growth of 16%, we expect visitor volume to reach 2.32 million this year and further expand to about 4 million by the year 2000. The contribution of tourism to GDP in 1995 was 5.23 percent and is expected to steadily grow to about 7 percent by next year.
The impressive performance of the Philippine tourism industry in the last five years was aptly cited by the Far Eastern Economic Review and the WTO. This feat has propelled the country's economic growth, which in 1996 reached an unprecedented mark, eliciting from Newsweek the statement "New Emerging Tiger of Asia."
In recognition of the importance of tourism to the country's economy, our national leadership has undertaken initiatives to facilitate the development not only of tourism, but also other sectors affected by tourism.
Recently, policies and laws have been enacted to promote a healthier business environment. We have revised our investment policies and adopted flagship projects to put in place the major infrastructure requirements in the country.
The Philippine President, Fidel V. Ramos, labeled as the "country's number one salesman," urges all government sectors to "pole-vault into the 2lst century." Pole vaulting means accelerating the pace of governmental reforms and development programs.
We have liberalized foreign equity participation in all of the tourism activities. We have also encouraged projects through BOT (build-operate-transfer) schemes, joint ventures and lease transport modes.
We have maintained a pro-active stance over the years by launching several aggressive marketing and promotion programs. Our battle cry is "Go for the business!" To combat the negative image of the Philippines, brought about by the 1986 coup d'Etat, the Fiesta Islands Campaign was launched. It depicted the Filipinos resilient nature by celebrating life through fiestas and festivals.
The untimely intervention of the Mt. Pinatubo calamity caused another setback in promotional efforts. To combat the Mt. Pinatubo disaster, the Philippine Islands Campaign was launched to re-establish the international image of the Philippines as a wholesome year-round vacation destination. The area affected by Mt. Pinatubo makes up only a small portion of the Philippines. There are many other islands that can be visited. The 20-year Tourism Master Plan established the grouping of regions for year-round promotions as well as their development.
Recently, Philippine Islands gave birth to Visit the Best of the Islands, which enhanced the uniqueness of the attractions of the Islands.
To address specific markets and increase the influx of visitors, the Department of Tourism launched an innovative program dubbed Bring Home a Friend which encouraged Filipinos to invite their foreign friends, relatives or business associates to visit the Philippines. Musical Islands was launched under the umbrella of Bring Home a Friend as a thematic campaign. Convention City Manila, on the other hand, re-launched the Philippines as a convention center in Asia.
Domestic tourism for International marketing
In line with the Department of Tourism's international marketing objectives, specifically "to promote utilization of existing tourist facilities in the different tourism clusters, focusing on the upper income groups and special interest market segments," domestic tourism activities which center on the Philippine arts, history & culture have been developed for international promotion and marketing.
Among them are:
The Kabataan or Youth 2000 Tourism Training and Appreciation Program, encourages the youth, marginalized and otherwise, to travel and learn from the benefits derived from tourism, amidst the backdrop of virgin forests, lush vegetation, mountains, seas and rivers, and ethnic tribes. Tourism Summer Camps are provided for youths with disabilities or the physically challenged; Student Travel Club Tours, whereby students belonging to clubs undertake trips to various destinations; Hero Tours for Youth, which was developed and marketed at North Americans, particularly Filipino-Americans searching for their roots; and EDUCARE or Educational Tours sold to student expats in the country.
Philippine Travel Mart, which provides a forum for the country's provinces to aggressively promote their tourism and trade potential. Now in its 8th year, the PTM has opened its doors to foreign buyers and the public.
Philippine Christmas Village in San Fernando, Pampanga, depicts the Filipino way of celebrating the longest Christmas in the world. It houses unique, colorful Giant Parols or lanterns. In 1998, we are staging the 2nd International
