MANILA, Philippines – A tourism group has debunked the recurring claim by open skies advocates that the Philippines needs to further open up its skies to attract more tourists as it revealed information that the country is one of the most liberalized in terms of air access by foreign carriers.
“Open skies advocates have been harping on the need for full open skies to attract more tourists but in reality we have already a very liberalized air policy as shown by the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011 of the World Economic Forum,” Robert Lim Joseph, founder of TourismWatch Philippines, said.
Joseph said based on the report, the Philippines is ranked 29 out of 139 countries in terms of “Openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements.”
He said although the Philippines is number 29 in terms of openness, tourists are still not coming in droves compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Besides being exceedingly open to foreign carriers, the Philippines ranks number 30 out of 139 countries in terms of “Available seat kilometers, international.”
“This all proves that the poor performance of our tourism sector is not about accessibility to Philippine air market and availability of airline seats but other factors,” he said.
For ticket taxes and airport charges, the Philippines ranked 20 in the world out of 139 countries “so we cannot understand the rantings of the lobbyists to cancel our taxes on foreign carriers when this is not the issue.”
Joseph cited the reasons why tourists hesitate to visit the Philippines based on the findings of the report.
He said the Philippines ranks 112 in terms of quality of air transport infrastructure; 99 in terms of effectiveness of marketing and branding; 132 in terms of hotel rooms; 123 in terms of transparency of government policymaking; 105 in terms of reliability of police services; 109 in terms of safety and security; 114 in terms of quality of roads (specially to tourist destinations), and 70 in terms of government prioritization of the travel and tourism industry.
Joseph said these are the factors that the government should look into and address to boost tourism. –(The Philippine Star)
September 18 –
International Equal Pay Day
“Increase wages now,
more than other cost items.
For widespread, practical equality!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
October –
Monthly Observances:
Industry and Commerce Safety Month
National Statistics Month
Local Government Month
Consumer Welfare Month
Cooperative Month
National Quality and Productivity Improvement Month
National Health and Wellness Tourism Month
National Indigenous Peoples Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Elderly Filipino Week
Week 2: National Health Education Week
Local Government Week
National Mental Health Week
October 17-23:
National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty
October 18 – 24:
United Nations Week
Last Week:
Nurses’ Week
Consumers’ Protection Week
Week of the 4th Sunday:
Barrio Farmers’ Week
Daily Observances:
First Monday (Oct 4): Universal Children’s Day i
n the Philippines
Oct 5: National Teachers’ Day
Oct 10: Local Government Day
Third Thursday (Oct 14): Conflict Resolution Day
Oct 21: Tenants’ Emancipation day
Oct 24: United Nations Day
Oct 29: National Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Day
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
