MANILA – The 65th edition of Miss Universe pageant activities kicked off with the rousing visit of beauty titlists from 12 countries recently, who altogether provided a fitting climax to this year’s Philippine tourism program.
“It gave a sneak-peek of the Philippines’ best-kept secrets as a world-class tourist destination, an ideal and safe haven for international visitors,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo was quoted as saying.
The country’s hosting of the prestigious beauty contest in January 2017 has been the focus of the Department of Tourism (DOT) under Secretary Teo as part of her plans to boost visitor arrivals to the country since assuming office in July.
The Miss Universe candidates’ trip to Oslob, Cebu, for one, defied a travel advisory against visits to Southern Cebu.
Despite the warnings against visiting the Philippines, tourist arrival figures have risen as the country hits its target of six million tourist arrivals this year, based on data gathered at international airports.
Teo said, with already 4.7 million arrivals logged as of September, the country stands to surpass last year’s total of 5.4 million international visitors.
“More tourists will come next year because the Miss Universe event has placed us on the world map. After the President Duterte’s state visit, China lifted the travel advisory and Chinese arrivals have increased,” Teo said.
The DOT chief said she also expects up to 3 million Chinese tourists to visit the country in 2017 after her successful trip to Beijing, China in October, during which, a Memorandum of Agreement on Tourism Cooperation between the Philippines and China was signed which will give the tourism department a better opportunity to market the Philippines to potential Chinese travelers.
To enhance air connectivity, several direct flights to the different regions of the country were launched this year.
Since November, Laoag has been welcoming around 400 Chinese tourists per week through China Eastern Airlines’ Guangzhou-Laoag chartered flights.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) also took its maiden flight from the Changi International Airport to Cebu in December.
PAL inaugurated its daily Cebu-Caticlan and Cebu-Clark (via Caticlan) flights, bringing the total of domestic destinations it flies to and from Cebu to 10. It also launched its first direct flight between Cebu and Singapore, its sixth international destination served from the Visayan gateway city.
The Philippines is also preparing to welcome more tourists from Cambodia, as the DOT and the Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Cambodia just recently signed an agreement that will start a series of programs that aims to revitalize tourism relations between the two countries.
To better position the country’s tourism industry, which lags behind those of East Asian neighbors, the DOT has raised its target annual visitor arrivals over six years until the end of the Duterte administration’s term in 2022.
And to sustain the momentum gained in staging the Miss Universe Pageant, the DOT has also sealed the deal to host Madrid Fusion Manila, a culinary festival that will draw the world’s best chefs to the country.
This early, the DOT is already preparing for the country’s hosting of the 50th ASEAN Summit.
The Tourism Chief also committed active involvement in hosting high-level conferences of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
With continuing partnerships, massive marketing campaigns, and increase awareness on different Philippines destinations, the tourism department has just concluded another great year for the industry.
