Improved air connectivity seen to attract more Asian tourists

MANILA, Philippines — The introduction of more flights and continued improvement of the country’s airports will help boost foreign arrivals from the Asian market, a tourism group said.

“The opening of new airports, would greatly contribute to tourist arrivals in Asia,” Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) president Ritchie Tuano told reporters.

Last year marked the opening of the New Bohol Panglao International Airport and the second terminal of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Tuano said the introduction of international flights to and from Asian countries in airports outside of Metro Manila is seen to contribute to the growth in arrivals from Asia.

Latest available data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed that the East Asia region accounted for 54.44 percent or 3.2 million of the total 5.88 million foreign arrivals.

This is mainly driven by arrivals from the country’s top source markets Korea, China and Japan.

Arrivals from the ASEAN and South Asia region also account for a large share in the period, registering 444,231 arrivals and 125,162 arrivals, respectively.

Tuano expressed optimism there will be more foreign arrivals this year compared to 2018.

“As far as our partner Philippine Airlines is concerned, they are also opening up more flights. Even Cebu Pacific and other international airlines, they’re also adding frequency and capacities into the Philippines. So that’s really an avenue for growth as far as tourism is concerned. I’m optimistic that we will do better in terms of tourism arrivals for 2018 and 2019,” Tuano said.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said earlier the DOT may not meet the 7.4 million foreign arrivals target for 2018 under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) due to the six-month closure of Boracay, the country’s flagship tourist destination.

For this year, Puyat said the DOT along with the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) is set to review the targets and strategies under the NTDP. She said that the carrying capacity of 6,405 tourists per day placed on Boracay will impact the arrivals numbers.

Tuano said he is hoping for a double-digit growth in foreign arrivals for this year.

“A 20 percent growth would be good. Any double digit growth even 11 percent, 10 percent is good,” Tuano said.

Apart Asian foreign arrivals, the PTAA president also expressed optimism on the growing domestic tourist market.

“I’ve never seen local tourists as much as they’ve traveled in the previous years. One year ahead, they plan already. They’re always on the lookout for promo fares,” Tuano said.

He cited the continued growth in foot traffic from the PTAA’s annual Travel Tour Expo (TTE) as one avenue where the demand from domestic tourists is seen as the event offers low-priced travel deals.

TTE organizing committee chairperson Marlene Jante said they are expecting this year’s number of participants to surpass last year’s level of 135,000.

The PTAA said it has seen at least a 10 percent increase in its foot traffic over the last three years.

More than 400 exhibitors will be participating in the 26th TTE slated on Feb. 8 to 10 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

Exhibitors include airlines, hotels, resorts, theme parks, and international cruise lines. Tourism stakeholders, embassies and national tourism organizations will also be present.