DOT Predicts MoreTourist Arrivals

BY RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ

International visitor arrivals to the Philippines are expected to increase by 8 percent to 10 percent in 2007, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said over the weekend.
The growth forecast matches the 8.4-percent increase in arrivals in 2006, which was a record-year for tourism, Durano said.
Data show that the number of foreign guests who visited the country reached a record high of 2.84 million last year, up from 2.62 million in 2005. But the 2006 figure was below the Department of Tourism’s target of 3 million foreign tourists for the year.
The government targeted three (3) million visitors in 2006; 3.4 million in 2007; 3.88 million in 2008; 4.42 million in 2009; and 5 million in 2010.
But sources at the tourism department said the specific arrival targets for 2007 to 2009 were reduced after missing the 2006 target. But the goal remains to attract five (5) million visitors by 2010.
Despite the increase in arrivals in 2006, the country’s tourism receipts from foreign tourists fell 6.9 percent year-on-year in 2006. Travel exports went down 1.1 percent to P120.87 billion in 2006 from P122.24 billion in 2005.
National Statistical Coordination Board secretary general Romulo Virola linked this to the strong peso, which appreciation against the US dollar reduced the growth of the peso value of foreign inflows such as tourism receipts.
Durano described 2006 as a good year for Philippine tourism who said prospects for 2007 are even better, with the expected completion of new resorts and accommodation facilities that would bring the total number of hotel rooms to about 18,000 by year end.
The hotel and restaurant sector expanded 6.1 percent year-on-year in 2006, contributing P106.03 billion, up 10.6 percent from P95.85 billion a year earlier.
Employment in hotels and restaurants grew by more than 42,000 jobs or 2.6 percent to 913,000 as of October 2006 from just 871,000 a year ago.
Durano said the approval of a P1.5-billion budget for the department in 2007 and the expected enactment of the Tourism Bill would be good for the industry.
"Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate, is doing its part to contribute to the President’s 10-point agenda, which includes tourism development as a means to accelerate employment generation. They have shown this not only through the tourism bill, which both chambers filed with their respective versions, but also through the bigger allocation for DoT in the 2007 national budget," he said.
Senator Richard Gordon, the main proponent of the Tourism Bill in the upper chamber, said tourism means jobs for Filipino people.
"The industry has an immense impact on the economy. Every foreign tourist spends P50,000 in shopping, eating, touring and staying at resorts. On an average year, 2.6 million foreign tourists give our economy P130 billion which generates jobs across the board, from the ordinary street vendor to the hotel magnate," Gordon said. /MP