3M tourists expected to visit RP this year

CEBU CITY, Sept. 9 (PNA) - Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said the Philippines would likely hit the three million foreign tourists target set by the Departmentof Tourism (DOT) for 2007.

”2007 is a monumental year for Philippine tourism. This is the first time that the country will be accommodating more than three million tourists,” Durano said in a statement read by DOT-7 regional director Patria Aurora Roa during the opening of the three-day Philippine International Tourism Fair (PITF) on Wednesday.

Over 100 foreign and 300 local buyers converged in Cebu to attend the PITF and the Philippine Travel Exchange (Phitex), two major tourism events designed to boost tourist arrivals here and in the rest of the Central Philippines.

The twin events opened Wednesday and will last until Friday at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City.

Organized by the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas), the PITF is the country’s first international tourism fair while Phitex is a project of the tourism department.

Durano noted that the PITF, like other travel fairs, would help travelers learn about the country’s wide range of tourism products.

”For the first time, a travel-cum-consumer fair gathers under one roof various users of tourism products from foreign buyers and local suppliers who get to network and trade-to-network and trade-to-consumers who hunt for special vacation packages at very affordable prices,” he pointed out.

Durano said the Philippines recorded over 1.5 million foreign tourists for the first six months this year, a 7.6 percent growth in arrivals over the same period last year.

He cited the convention market and the English as Second Language (ESL) tour program for having contributed to the growth of foreign tourists.

The participants in conventions have grown while the post-convention tours have helped promote extended stays, Durano said.

The ESL tour program has also encouraged Koreans and other foreigners to pursue longer term or degree courses, he added.

The growth in tourist arrivals has benefited the hospitality industry with Metro Manila hotels enjoying 74 percent occupancy rates while hotels and resorts in Cebu, Boracay, Baguio and Bohol enjoying even higher occupancy rates, Durano said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in a statement read for her by DOT Undersecretary Phineas Alburo, said 55 percent of the tourists went to Central Philippines.

Arroyo emphasized the role of Cebu as the top foreign tourists destination in the Philippines while noting that Cebu’s tourist boom will hopefully spill over to other destination such as Palawan. (PNA)