Philippines Visited by 3 Million Tourist in 2009

About three million tourists visited the Philippines last year, two million less than the 5 million target.

In a statement, Department of Tourism (DOT) Undersecretary Oscar Payabyab said that the lower projection, he explained, was due to the contraction of outbound tourist traffic in the country’s usual market, particularly Japan and Korea. However, the decrease was made up the increase arrival of Chinese and Taiwanese tourists.

Usec. Payabyab admitted that the recent calamities had a negative effect on the tourism industry. “Baguio City, for instance, lost over 2,000 domestic tourists since it had to forego hosting the [21st Philippine] Advertising Congress because of the flooding and landslides,” he said.

Among local destinations, the Queen City of the South, Cebu City, drew the biggest number of visitors followed by Camarines Sur. The third most favored destination was Baguio City and the rest of the Cordillera Autonomous Region followed by Bohol and Palawan.

Despite the global financial crisis, tourist arrival statistics did not project negative digits primarily due to the positive role of local media and holiday economics. The media was able to highlight the beautiful destinations in the country and through reports, warned tourists where violent incidents occur. On the other hand, holiday economics enabled workers to plan their vacations for the long weekend ahead.

Meanwhile, Malacanang associated the stable tourism growth to better infrastructure, liberalized airline industry, and improved tourism facilities.

From 2004 to August of 2009, P555 billion worth of investment went to the development of transportation, tourism eco-zones, accommodation and other related facilities. The liberalization of the airline industry has resulted in the opening of air routes to and from major tourist markets, including Incheon, Busan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Kaohsiung. Tourism-related infrastructure projects such as construction of hotels and other facilities have also made the Philippines as a viable destination to foreign tourists.

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Kasal.com thanks the following sources for this article:
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Hermitanio, Maui, Philippine Online Chronicles. Improved infra lured 3 million tourists to RP in 2009. (Posted January 3, 2010) Retrieved January 4, 2010 from
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Philippine Information Agency. Tourists flock to RP in 2009 with improved facilities (Posted January 2, 2010) Retrieved January 4, 2010 from
http://pia.gov.ph/?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p100102.htm&no=02

Good News Pilipinas. 3 million tourists visit RP in 2009. (Posted December 31, 2009) Retrieved January 4, 2010 from
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Gonzales, Mia, Business Mirror. DOT expects flat growth for tourism in ’09 (Posted December 30, 2009) Retrieved January 4, 2010 from
http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/economy/20342-dot-expects-flat-growth-for-tourism-in-09.html