MikeLigalig.com

By Rey Anthony Chiu
PIA Bohol

The Department of Tourism (DOT) will embark this year on a massive tourism campaign to boost further tourist arrivals in the country, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said.

Durano outlined his agency’s plans for 2008 during this week’s installment of “The Cabinet Speaks,” a radio and television program of the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) aired over government TV station NBN-4.

He said the DOT will concentrate on three key factors, namely 1) the volume of tourist arrivals, 2) the length of stay of the tourists in the country, and 3) their average daily spending while in the Philippines.

Durano has projected tourist arrivals to increase by eight to 10 percent “year on year.”

Based on this projection, about three million more tourists are expected to visit the country this year, he said. Last year, the three million tourists who visited the country contributed $4.88-billion to the economy.

Durano added that the tourism industry did not only meet its 2007 “quota” but even overshot DOT’s 2010 income target by about $8 million.

Because of DOT’s aggressive tourist promotion campaign, the projected income from the increased tourist traffic is expected to generate an additional revenue of $1 billion for the government this year.

On the second key factor, Durano said that because the tourist season begins to peak at this time of the year, he expects more visitors, specifically those from colder climes such as Europe, to spend more time in the Philippines to enjoy the summer months.

He said Europeans spend about two to three weeks in the country -- which means more income for the tourism sector.

“The longer they (tourists) stay in the country, the more they will spend,” Durano said.

On the last key factor, Durano said his agency is “packaging” higher value services which the tourists are likely to patronize.

“Yung strategy natin para mapataas yung daily spending nila ay by promoting higher value services such as wellness services (medical tourism), shopping, convention, and education,” Durano said.

“At the end of the day, what is important is what they spend in our country that will directly benefit our economy,” he added.


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