D.O.T. confident of breaking 4.5-million forecast tourist goal

TOURISM Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. is confident the Philippines would break the 4.5-million tourist forecast for this year, revealing that the Department of Tourism continues to grow at 9.9 percent yearly average and even reaching 15-percent gross on some months.

“We are scheduled to cross the 4-million mark,” he said, adding that by the close of December, the agency would just be a little short of 4.5 million. He spoke to reporters at the sidelines of the unveiling of the redesigned duty-free shops at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (Naia 1).

He said South Korea continues to lead as the biggest source of tourists, followed by the United States and Japan.

Jimenez predicted that despite the Philippine-Chinese conflict in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), China would soon be a major source of tourists. He expressed hope normalization of relations was not far off. “Remember that in January, we reached 40,000 tourists a month from the [Chinese] mainland, so we hope to reach half-a-million once all [Chinese] travel groups have normalized; group travel from China is slowly coming back.”

“But [tourists from] Asean are the largest already; they are our neighbors,” he said.

He said that in terms of tourist receipts, the Philippines could count on having a higher income since 98 percent of tourists arrive by air, unlike in other countries that tourists reach by car.

“We actually make more money from tourists than other countries. So if we reach 10 million tourists by 2016, that would be a big amount. Malaking bagay ’yun.”

On complaints that the Philippines lacks infrastructure to accommodate tourists, Jimenez said the administration practically started from scratch and it would be unfair to expect too much.

“You’ll remember that nine years ago in Bangkok, everybody was complaining about the airport traffic congestion. But now…. We’re congested, that’s true, meaning tourists are coming in; it would be worse if our airports are too slack as this would mean there are only few tourists coming in,” he said.

Lorenzo Formoso, Duty Free Philippines (DFP) COO, said that shortly after the stores’ renovation, the average sales grew by as much as 35 percent.

“I am sure this will also make the Manila International Airport Authority [Miaa] very happy,” he said.

DFP is the Miaa’s highest concessionaire—it paid P428 million in 2011, followed by the airline companies.

Formoso said the renovation was undertaken by Philippine Design Ltd., led by French designer Philip Larosse, and Sound Design Inc., led by French architect Frederic Chevassus.

The team is internationally known in retail planning, interior design and construction, and has worked with major international fashion luxury brands, cosmetics and various travel retail stores in the region.

Formoso said DFP strives to remain true to its mission of being world-class retailer, committed to showcase the Filipino traits of warmth, grace and hospitality.

“Our duty-free stores, especially at the international ports, serve as the window of our country’s culture.” –Recto Mercene / Reporter, BUsinessmirror