3300000 Tourists will visit the Philippines this year

Benefiting from two major tourism boosters, the election of President Benigno S. Aquino III and the passage of the Tourism Act of 2009; Department of Tourism (DoT) Secretary Alberto Lim is anticipating a “new shine on the country’s brand before the world” as tourist influx in the Philippines is expected to hit 3.3 million this year, the biggest in the history of Philippine tourism.

According to the new tourism chief in a recent speech before a joint meeting of the Makati Business Club and the European, American, and Canadian Chambers of Commerce, from a decline of 3.9% in 2009, arrivals are expected to post a growth of 12 percent.

“The Philippines has been rated by the Country Brand Index as among the world’s rising destinations. It ranked eighth as a value-for-money destination and ranked 11th in the entire Pacific region,” Lim said. The new tourism act, on the other hand, has reorganized the entire machinery for tourism development and mobilized resources for infrastructure development and tourism promotions.

In a span of six years, DoT is targeting six million tourist arrivals, $18.7 billion tourism receipts, and three million new jobs for the Filipinos. “The numbers could be more although I would prefer to over-deliver than to over-promise,” he added.

Lim enumerated the key strategies to achieve the above-mentioned program goals: Building infrastructure to support tourism; upgrading the quality of tourism products; harnessing nature, history, and culture; raising private investments in tourism infrastructure like hotels and resorts, strong local government participation; and sustained marketing promotions.

With regards to the new areas of the country that will be opened up for tourism development, Lim cited the current project to develop the Samar-Leyte Region, especially Guian, Samar, a sleepy town in Eastern Samar that boasts of pristine beaches and heritage sites.