OFFICIALS of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) advised the Philippines to keep promoting the country to its Asia-Pacific neighbors to further boost its visitor arrivals, despite perceptions over security and safety issues in the country.
About 1,000 statisticians and tourism officials from some 60 countries are in Manila for the Sixth International Conference on Tourism Statistics at the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Hotel, Newport City, Pasay City.
UNWTO officials had hoped that in pushing through with the three-day conference here, the global tourism agency would send a strong message to world travelers that the Philippines is a safe destination.
At a news conference on Wednesday, UNWTO Director for Asia and the Pacific Xu Jing encouraged the Philippines to continue selling the country to its Asia-Pacific neighbors, noting the 90-percent increase in Chinese travelers to the Philippines. “The problem is not perception, it’s awareness about the country,” he said.
Terror threats and security concerns have hounded the Philippines in recent months, flagging travel advisories from various foreign governments.
For his part, former UNWTO Director General Marcio Favilla also said statistics indicated at least 80 percent of international tourist arrivals are inter-region travelers. “So it’s important for the Philippines to promote itself in China, Japan, Korea.”
Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) show almost 4 million tourists from Asia and Australasia/Pacific arrived in the Philippines in 2016, accounting for over 65 percent of the total 5.97 million visitor arrivals for the year. The DOT hopes to increase visitor arrivals from 7 million in 2017 to 12 million in 2022.
Favilla also reiterated the UNWTO’s position that travel advisories issued by governments versus countries must be precise and time-bound.
While acknowledging that governments are after the protection and safety of their citizens, he said travel advisories should be issued on a “geo-reference basis. They should not blanket the whole country. They should be clear where the problems are, and should be time-bound. It should not take forever.” He also said the governments should “consult with the countries” to make the travel advisories more precise and updated.
The UNWTO announced 1.24 billion international tourist arrivals in 2016, of which 25 percent traveled to the Asia-Pacific region, including the Philippines.
During the opening ceremony of the conference at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of the Resorts World Manila, UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai enjoined delegates to enjoy their time in the Philippines.
“You haven’t lived if you have not experienced the Philippines,” he told the delegates. “We are here, ladies and gentlemen, to tell the world to come to the Philippines and make no mistake about it. Anybody who tries to present any other version of the story should come and see with your own eyes. All of the countries of the world that have experienced difficulties have come back and have shown their best and their beauty comes out,” he added. The UNWTO head said the year’s gathering is a “homecoming” and a milestone since Manila last hosted a WTO conference in 1980, which produced the Manila Declaration, a document that continues to be a reference for the global tourism industry.
“The world is lucky to have the Philippines. Culture, nature and upbeat people give the country so much life. The Philippines is a country to travel and respect, and its greatest gift is its people,” he stressed. Rifai, it should be noted, was the one who impressed on the current DOT dispensation to keep the “It’s More Fun In the Philippines” country slogan.
The opening ceremony was attended by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III; Philippines Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo; tourism ministers from Thailand, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Fiji, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Seychelles; and 721 international and local delegates.
During her opening remarks, Teo continued to push sustainable tourism on a global level by urging leaders to support tourism-related policymaking.
“We hope that the Manila Call for Action will be adopted at this forum to demonstrate our common resolve to create a better world for our children and future generations,” she said.
In a statement, President Duterte also thanked UNWTO for choosing the Philippines as the venue for the conference.
“More than just a proof that the Philippines remains a safe destination for meetings, conferences and other tourism activities, it also affirms the Philippines’ effort to promote tourism as a vehicle for a nation’s sustainability and inclusive progress,” he said in a statement read by the DOT chief.
Pimentel, likewise, assured the delegates that the situation in Mindanao is temporary. “I am confident that once this crisis is over, we will have peace and security in that region, [which] will result in more tourists visiting Southern Philippines,” he said, in reference to the martial law in Mindanao, which was prompted by armed encounters between the government and Islamist jihadist rebels in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. Marawi is 813 kilometers away from Metro Manila by air and 1,500 km by road.
During the three-day conference, tourism ministers will develop a statistical framework to integrate sustainable tourism on a global level. Tourism Undersecretary Rolando Cañizal said the conference would look at the “environmental impact of tourism”.
At the news conference, UNWTO’s Xu expressed his “happiness to be back in the Philippines as a professional and also as a traveler. I’ve been coming to this country many times…it’s always more fun to travel in the Philippines.”
He noted the “progress” made by the Philippines in the tourism sector “as we were driving through the Skyway from the airport”, as well as the renovations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals. “The Philippines continues to be a prime tourism destination not only in Asia, but in the world.”
According to a news statement by the UNWTO in April, the Philippines “has become a reference in the region with regard to tourism measurement and a role model in the development of effective inter-institutional collaboration to develop tourism statistics. The commitment of the country, shown in the development of the Tourism Satellite Account framework, explains the decision to host the discussion on the [Measuring Sustainable Tourism] initiative.”
Image credits: Stephanie Tumampos