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ABOUT
500 Filipino-Americans and Filipino-Canadians are
expected to participate in the 4th Ambassadors, Consuls
General and Tourism Directors Tour to the Philippines
next week.
To be
held from July 12 to 15, the tour is “an important
annual event to update opinion makers and business
leaders of North America of the tourism developments in
the country,” Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said
in an interview with the BusinessMirror.
A large
chunk of tourists in the Philippines continue to come
from the United States, according to data from the
Department of Tourism (DOT). From January to April 2008,
there were 213,141 visitors from the US, accounting for
19 percent of total tourist arrivals of the 1.11 million
for the period.
This
year the participants will be billeted at the Sofitel
Philippine Plaza, at the Cultural Center of the
Philippines Complex, along Roxas Boulevard, and
overlooking Manila Bay. Just renovated in 2007 after its
management was taken over by leading European hotel
management firm Accor, Philippine Plaza has been a
landmark in Manila with its rooms’ breathtaking views of
the world-famous Manila Bay sunset. In previous tours,
participants were billeted at the Makati Shangri-La
Hotel and Peninsula Manila, both in Makati City.
Durano
added that while an overwhelming number of applicants
wanted to join the tour, his department has decided to
limit the participants to just 500, “since this is the
volume Malacañang can accommodate.” Last year there were
about 650 who participated in the tour.
For the
fourth year, the main highlight of the tour is an
audience with President Arroyo, who is expected to make
a speech this time, and accommodate a photo opportunity
with the various tour delegations. Last year the
President opted not to make a speech, much to the
disappointment of the participants.
Besides
the tour of Malacañang museum, lunch and the audience
with the President on July 14, one of the key dinners of
the tour participants will be hosted by Western Union at
the recently opened Manila Ocean Park on July 13. The
Manila Ocean Park—just launched in February—has become
one of the most popular tourist attractions in Metro
Manila. Located behind the Quirino Grandstand at the
Rizal Park, it has drawn long lines of visitors since it
opened, with many coming from the provinces and willing
to pay the steep entrance fees of P400 for adults and
P350 for children.
Owned by
China Oceanis Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of China
Oceanis Inc., a Singaporean-registered firm that
operates four oceanariums in China, the Manila Ocean
Park oceanarium is supposedly larger, at 6,000 square
meters, than Sentosa’s Underwater World oceanarium in
Singapore in terms of floor area.
On July
12 a business-opportunity fair will be held in the
morning at the ballroom of Sofitel, to include briefings
by property developers, followed by a tour of Intramuros,
the old walled city of Manila dating back from the
Spanish era.
On July
13 there will be several tours to nearby provinces,
including a trip to Corregidor island off Manila Bay, an
important battleground between American and Japanese
military forces during World War II. Gen. Douglas
MacArthur used it as headquarters for the Allied Forces
until March 11, 1942. The fall of Corregidor paved the
way for the Japanese forces’ capture of the Philippines.
Such a tour has always been a hit among Americans
married to Filipinos, who have joined the
ambassadors/consuls general tours in the past.
Other
destinations include Villa Escudero in Quezon; Pagsanjan,
Laguna to shoot the rapids at the Pagsanjan Falls; and
Tagaytay City to see the world-famous, still-active Taal
Volcano.
After
the basic tour, which ends on July 15, several
participants are expected to travel to key provincial
tourist sites such as Boracay Island, Aklan; Puerto
Princesa, Palawan; Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur; Cebu and
Bohol; and Davao City.
Rajah
Tours is handling the local travel arrangements of the
participants.
DOT data
show that visitor arrivals in the Philippines for the
first four months of 2008 was 7.5 percent higher than
the 1.03 million who arrived in the same period last
year.
A press
statement from the DOT said tourists spent $1.34 billion
in the country for the period.
Korean
travelers topped the tourism market share for the
four-month period, with 220,529 visiting the
Philippines; followed by the Americans; then the
Japanese at 128,748; mainland Chinese at 62,464; and
Australia at 40,840.
Within
this period, the DOT said, 11 cruise ships arrived with
seven ships disembarking in Manila with a total of 8,197
visitors; the remaining cruise liners had ports of call
in the Subic Bay free port, Cebu, and Davao with
visitors totalling 1,321. |
