Teo: VisMin to take spotlight in DOT’s promotional efforts

CEBU, Philippines - Visayas and Mindanao tourism destinations will take center stage in the promotional agenda of the Department of Tourism starting this year.

This was the pronouncement made by tourism chief Wanda Corazon T. Teo in her recent visit to Cebu, saying Manila and other parts of Luzon already had their chance to exploit the promotional programs of the previous administrations.

Cebu, she said will play a vital role in this campaign, as the existence of bigger airport and the upcoming opening of the new Terminal 2 will bring in more tourists to southern part of the Philippines, using Cebu as the gateway.

 She said Visayas and Mindanao will have prominent exposures in promotional events abroad.

Moreover, a series of familiarization tours will be conducted in different key markets in the world. She said foreign journalists and travel agents will be hosted by different destinations in the Philippines, specifically in Visayas and Mindanao.

 According to Teo, the over-all programs and thrusts of the DOT in each region will largely depend on the recommendations endorsed by regional directors.

She said what is clear is to magnify the yet-to-be famous or discovered destinations in Visayas and Mindanao to start the series of promotional campaigns here and abroad.

  On the other hand, Teo earlier announced that there is a need to promote domestic tourism since there are many other destinations in the country waiting to be explored by Filipinos.

She noted dual marketing efforts should be strengthened to get Filipinos to travel more within the Philippines while ensuring tourism attaches abroad make a big push for tourists to visit the Philippines.

 Already, she earlier set a 12-million goal of tourist arrivals at the end of the current administration in 2022, nearly double the target for the year of 6.5 million.

She added the DOT has yet to set targets for tourism receipts, but said tourists are spending more in the country now.

 Filipino tourists spend six times more than what foreigners do when they visit the country and Tourism secretary Wanda Corazon Teo hopes to tap more of this type of tourism.

 Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed that in 2014, the latest data available, local tourists spent about P1.5 trillion in their vacations and staycations within the country. This is six times more than what foreigners spent in 2015 which is P227 billion.

Philippine earnings from foreign tourists, however, more than doubled in the past five years (P112 billion in 2010 to P227 billion last year) and Teo hopes to replicate that growth in domestic tourism. (FREEMAN)