Tourist arrivals up as country enters new norm

CEBU – Over one million foreign travellers had so far visited the Philippines the past six months as the country continues to open its border to tourists while effectively controlling the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), at least 1.1 million foreigners visited various tourism destinations in the country since February when the government reopened its borders.

To sustain this momentum, the DOT promised an overall experience for travelers by promoting digitalization and working with relevant offices to further improve tourism infrastructure.

The tourism industry contributed at least 12.7% to the economy prior to the health crisis in 2020 and drastically fell to about 5% the past two years.

DOT Secretary Christina Frasco is optimistic that the tourism industry shall be vibrant again. She said they are now developing new regional tourism circuits that would highlight eco-tourism, including the conduct of meetings, conferences and exhibitions, food and further promote food and gastronomy; heritage and culture; farm and agri-tourism; health and wellness; and arts, among others.

“All these tourism dimensions will get an equal promotion, attention, and support as we expand ourselves from the traditional portfolio and explore multidimensional tourism,” she said.

Frasco also urged the tourism stakeholders to do their share and build a stronger bridge of collaboration to uplift the industry.

“All of you play a vital role in our aspirations for recovery and progress. Your success, our success, means more jobs for our people, a better economy, more productive workforce, and sparking our recovery not only in our tourism industry here in Cebu but for the entirety of our country's economy,” she said during a recent event organized by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and attended by over 200 tourism stakeholders and local government representatives.

“I invite everyone to join the efforts of the Department of Tourism and the national government in building a stronger bridge of collaboration to maximize all of our efforts and that we would be able to exceed our previous standing on the global stage,” she added. (Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)