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Feeling good in the
Philippines
By Paolo Hooke
The Philippines, which posted a
significant rise in the number of tourists last
year due to aggressive marketing efforts, stronger
support from the private sector and improved
political stability, aims to attract 2.5 million
tourist arrivals this year, up from 2.3 million in
2004 and 1.91 million in 2003.
According
to the Department of Tourism (DoT), the
Philippines posted a 24.3% rise in the number of
tourists in the first 10 months of 2004, with
visitors reaching 1.861 million during this
period. In addition, tourism revenue surged by
32.29% to US$1.61 billion during the
January-October 2004 period, compared to $1.22
billion from the year before.
Visitors
from Asian markets, such as Japan, South Korea,
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia,
accounted for 51.81% of the total, while those
from North America, Western Europe and the
Australia/Pacific regions accounted for 29.2%,
21.9% and 28.0%, respectively. Overseas Filipinos,
known as balikbayans, accounted for 4.6% of
total arrivals.
The Philippines now aims
for 5 million tourists by the year 2010, with
Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano identifying China
as the country's biggest source of tourists.
"There are more than 20 million Chinese tourists,"
Durano said. "Of that, only 2% came to the
Philippines."
Last year, 40,000 Chinese
tourists visited the Philippines, an on-year jump
of 23.5%. Yet this only accounts for 1.7% of the
foreign tourist market, which the DoT hopes to
raise. Aside from China, there was also a rise in
arrivals from Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and
Canada.
Visitor arrivals to the
Philippines, by country of
residence*
| Country |
No of arrivals |
Share (%) |
On-year growth
(%) |
| US
|
478,091 |
20.9 |
23.3 |
| Japan |
382,307 |
16.7 |
18.4 |
| Korea |
378,602 |
16.5 |
24.6 |
| Hong
Kong |
162,381 |
7.1 |
16.2 |
| Taiwan |
115,182 |
5.0 |
24.2 |
| Australia |
89,175 |
3.9 |
27.7 |
| Canada |
64,537 |
2.8 |
20.4 |
| Singapore |
60,253 |
2.6 |
17.6 |
| UK |
56,770 |
2.5 |
19.6 |
| Germany |
45,092 |
2.0 |
16.6 |
| China |
39,581 |
1.7 |
23.5 |
| Guam |
34,326 |
1.5 |
17.5 |
*January to December 2004
Source: Philippine Department of
Tourism
The DoT will step up its
marketing campaign in China by joining forces with
state-controlled tour wholesalers in Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Starting this
year, the Philippines will also stage three
week-long holidays, the Chinese New Year in
February, summer in May, and the Double Ten
Celebrations in October, in hopes of attracting as
many Chinese tourists as possible during these
periods. The Philippines aims to attract 300,000
visitors from China in 2010.
According to
Durano, the Philippines enjoys competitive
advantages in the Chinese market due to historical
and family ties with prominent business people
influential in China. He noted the enormous
potential of Philippine tourism in utilizing the
country's cultural and natural attractions, and
cited the need to focus on key geographical areas,
positioning the Philippines differently to its
competitors.
Promoting the Philippines
The Philippine Department of Tourism will
invest $4.6 million in tourism promotion toward
the key markets of North America, China, Japan and
South Korea. These market-specific campaigns will
use local media networks for distribution and
advertising materials in the native language of
the particular target market.
Extensive
market research was undertaken to understand the
specific preferences of each target market.
For South Korea, $1 million has been set
aside for a campaign designed to target the
emotions, called "Feel the Philippines". It will
promote the Philippines as a family holiday and
honeymoon destination, with other target markets
to include students, special interest groups and
incentives.
The DoT aims to increase the
number of South Korean arrivals in the country
from 378,602 last year to 500,000 this year.
For North America, the DoT will
concentrate on overseas Filipinos, with the
majority of US tourists to the Philippines being
balikbayans. The US is a very important
market for the Philippines, supplying 20.9%, or
478,091, of total visitor arrivals in 2004.
For China, $1.1 million has been earmarked
for promoting the Philippines as a recreational
destination with an emphasis on relaxation,
leisure and beaches. The Philippines hopes to grab
a 1% share of China's rapidly growing outbound
tourism market by 2010.
As part of the
Philippines' efforts to tap into the lucrative
outbound Chinese tourism market, tour groups and
travelers from China can now apply for a 14-day
visa on arrival at Philippine international
airports. The initiative is a joint effort among
the Department of Foreign Affairs, the DoT and the
Bureau of Immigration, which recently entered into
a memorandum of agreement.
Meanwhile, the
DoT's campaign toward Japan will promote the
country as a premium resort island, with Metro
Manila repackaged as a city resort.
In
2004, Japan was the Philippines' second-largest
source of tourists in terms of country, with
377,307 arrivals. The DoT is aiming to attract
481,250 Japanese tourists this year and 1 million
in 2008. By that date, the country hopes to garner
a 2.5% share of Japanese arrivals to ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
If these targets are achieved, they would
represent a sharp growth rate of 28%.
The
Philippines regards the Japanese market as
offering huge potential, since Japan is the
world's second-largest economy, has a high per
capita gross domestic product (GDP) and is one of
the world's biggest sources of outbound tourists
(13.3 million in 2003).
In addition to the
traditional markets of China, Japan, South Korea
and North America, the Philippines is also looking
to tap into the European market. However,
overcoming limited air access is critical since
this is one of the major factors that have kept
Europeans away from Philippine shores.
Another barrier that needs to be overcome
is the negative image many Europeans hold of the
Philippines in relation to the country's peace and
security.
Recently, British ambassador to
the Philippines Peter Beckingham called on the
country to enter the British backpacker market. He
said the Philippines has "got everything the young
British want - interesting culture, beautiful
scenery, restaurants, shopping malls and friendly
people". But while 200,000 British tourists visit
Thailand every year, only 70,000 British tourists
visit the Philippines annually.
Regional breakdown
Southern
Mindanao intends to take advantage of its
potential for adventure tourism such as
mountaineering, diving, caving and mountain
biking. Of the total number of tourists who
arrived in Southern Mindanao last year, only 10%
were foreign arrivals.
Cebu is aiming to
attract the Japanese market, seeking to position
itself as a culinary destination. Since 2004,
marketing and sales directors from the Hotel,
Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu member
sectors have been conducting workshops to attract
the Japanese market. A training and education
program has also been conducted. Japanese arrivals
accounted for 29.5% of Cebu's foreign tourist
market in 2004.
In Subic Bay, a tourism
bureau has been established that aims to plan and
improve tourism in Freeport, transforming it into
one of the Philippines' major tourist
destinations. The Subic Bay Tourism Planning Board
is made up of key departments from the Subic Bay
Metropolitan Authority and representatives from
the tourism sector.
Meanwhile, Davao City
will mount an aggressive tourism drive toward the
Chinese market since only a small fraction of
Chinese tourists come to Davao, according to Mayor
Rodrigo Duterte.
The Philippines is also
looking to improve road access to the Cordillera
Administrative region, one of the Philippines' top
eight tourist destinations.
(Asia Pulse) |
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