Tourism

MANILA, Philippines – A new trend has been set in the country’s tourism industry this year, despite a number of natural calamities that caused tourism authorities to doubt if they could meet the five million foreign tourists arrival target for 2013.

On the occasion of World Tourism Day (27 September), ILO Senior Tourism Specialist Wolfgang Weinz and ILO Senior Gender Specialist Susan Maybud talk about the role tourism can play in achieving poverty reduction and gender equality.

As a result of investments and a refinement in Tourism courses, at least 10,000 jobs are being posted daily by luxury hotels, casinos and resorts nationwide, search engine operator JobsDB said Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DOT) has set a higher tourism employment target of 7.4 million by 2016 from earlier target of 6.8 million due to the projected improvement in the country’s domestic tourism in the near-term, official documents showed.

Palawan has dislodged Boracay as the best island for international travelers, based on a recent survey conducted by New York-based Travel+Leisure magazine.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite an aggressive tourism campaign and record high arrivals, the Philippines still remains one of the countries with the lowest tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia.

While Philippines economy is booming, the government is failing to create enough jobs for locals. Except in the tourism branch which is predicted with a very bright future, according to the fourth State of the Nation address, presented last week by Philippines president Benigno Aquino.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism secured a $7.1 million grant from the Canadian International Development Agency to improve the competitiveness of the local tourism industry from 2013-2016, the state agency reported on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved more than $12.7 million of grant financing to the Philippines help create more quality jobs through the tourism sector.

MANILA, Philippines – With its glistening white, powdery sand, the Philippines’ Boracay Island has been named best beach in Asia for 2013. Participants in a poll on popular online travel guide Trip-Advisor described Boracay as “a stunningly beautiful white powder sand beach (with) crystal clear, warm water that you can laze on for days on…

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.

MANILA, Philippines – Three hotels in Manila made it to Conde Nast Traveler’s list of top 20 hotels in Southeast Asia, while two resorts in the Visayas were named among the best in Asia. The influential travel magazine released its much-awaited Reader’s Choice Awards 2012 in its November issue.

The Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) in Palawan has just been officially listed as a wetland of international importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje said the PPUR was the latest site to make it to the list.

MAKATI CITY, Philippines – Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez told businessmen and media at the Manila Peninsula Hotel recently that tourism will be the world’s 21st century mega industry. “Tourism will be a driver of many economies especially those of developing countries, like the Philippines,” the former top advertising man in the country said.

CEBU, Philippines — In the Philippines, English language courses come with poolside classrooms, field trips to the beach, and instructors doubling as tour guides.

Boracay Island in Aklan, made world-famous by its powdery white-sand beaches, has been named by the international magazine Travel+Leisure as the world’s best island destination for 2012.

Foreign tourist arrivals in the Philippines hit a record high last year, surpassing the government’s expectations and bolstering hopes the 10-million mark could be breached in 2016.

International visitor arrivals in the Philippines hit a new record high of 3.917 million in 2011, although the figure remains one of the lowest in Southeast Asia.

MANILA, Philippines – The Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) is now officially part of the New7Wonders of Nature. “I am proud to confirm that PPUR is now one of the New7Wonders of Nature; preparations for the proclamation are underway,” Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn announced yesterday at a press briefing at Heritage Hotel in…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DOT) reported that Boracay has been named the best beach in the world after the Providenciales in Turks and Calcos Islands.

A travel website has named the Philippines’ famous Boracay island as the best beach in Asia. The website www.TripAdvisor.com’s Travelers’ Choice 2011 also voted the island as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

MANILA, Philippines – A good but challenging year. This was how Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez described the local tourism industry in 2011 despite a series of natural calamities and problems encountered by the department.

MANILA, Philippines – The share of tourism in the country’s economy grew to P518.5 billion in 2010, 13 percent higher than the previous year’s P459 billion, according to a report from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

MORE than half of the domestic travelers last year went around for pleasure or vacation, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO). In its 2010 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors, the NSO said about 23.1 million Filipinos who were 15 years old and above traveled in any place within the country from April to September…

AN ALLY of President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday slammed the Tourism Department’s marketing strategy of luring “divorcees and the broken-hearted” to the country, saying it was actually promoting sex tourism.

More than half of Filipinos travel for pleasure or vacation last year, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga ,Philippines – The country’s tourism industry continues to boom with an estimated 3.3 million tourists visiting the Philippines last year.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) expects the travel and tourism industry to create 296 million jobs by 2019, which is definitely good news for the Philippines because the country intends to double last year’s tourist arrivals from three million to six million in 2016.

A PRIVATE SECTOR-LED tourism body and business group yesterday scored current government efforts to promote the industry, noting the lack of market research and promotions. The Tourism Congress and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) expressed dissatisfaction with Tourism department efforts since last year’s deadly hostage crisis involving Hong Kong nationals.

Manila, Philippines – The Department of Tourism’s (DOT) “Limestone” domestic tourism advertisement has bagged the Bronze award in the Outdoor Lions Category in the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.