Tourism prospects bright despite calamities

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga , Philippines  – The Department of Tourism is eyeing bright tourism prospects in North Philippines for the rest of the year despite calamities.

Speaking at the ongoing North Philippines (NorthPhil) Tourism and Travel Expo 2009 at the SM Clark in this city, DOT Undersecretary Oscar Palabyab said the continued vigor of the tourism industry should provide hope and inspiration to the Filipino people who had just seen a worsening spate of typhoons over the last few months.

Palabyab said that while the hardest hit was North Philippines, its local leaders and the DOT regional directors in the area remained optimistic, ardently and successfully organizing the NorthPhil expo to showcase Luzon as a “mall of tourist destinations” where local and foreign visitors could visit many provinces and regions with diverse cultures and attractions by simply traveling by land.

He said Luzon’s advantage as a contiguous sprawl of varying tourist destinations could make travelers avoid calamity-stricken areas while enjoying what the other parts of the region could offer.

He cited as proof the sustained increase in tourism volume in the region as typified by the uptrend in Central Luzon, which posted local and foreign visitor arrivals of around 315,000 in 2006, 430,000 in 2007, and 550,000 in 2008.

DOT Central Luzon Regional Director Ronnie Tiotuico said those figures were based on actual hotel bookings.

Citing Central Luzon’s target of 600,000 tourist volume for 2009, Tiotuico attributed the increase partly to the successful operationalization of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, whose monthly volume of inbound passengers rose from 7,000 in 2004 to 26,000 in 2009, mostly from Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

“It’s apparently because the foreign airlines at DMIA are Korea’s Asiana, Malaysia’s Air Asia, and Singapore’s Tiger Airways,” Tiotuico said.

Similarly, Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo bared a 137-percent increase in the tourist volume in her province as she urged the expo visitors to “Go North!”

Aurora Province has twice won the Best Destination Award at the NorthPhil expo, now on its 4th year.

Presidential Assistant for Central Luzon Undersecretary Lorelei Fajardo led the event’s guests of honor, which included top local officials of North Philippines constituent provinces. –(The Philippine Star)