Tourism Holds Key To Recovery, Says Un

[Mr Lee]

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=b...ess3_dec29_2008 Philippines needs to become more foreigner friendly to survive the downturn Tourism holds key to recovery, says UN By Roderick T. dela Cruz The global economic downturn has slowed the movement of tourists across countries, but a United Nations agency said the tourism industry holds the key to economic recovery and out of world recession. "Tourism can deliver for the economy as a whole. It is a catalytic industry and should be part of stimulus packages for infrastructure, jobs and investment," said the World Tourism Organization, an agency of the United Nations. The World Tourism Organization, in its 2nd Conference on Tourism Trends and Outlook for the Asia-Pacific, confirmed that Asia and the Pacific was strongly feeling the impact of the global slowdown. But it said tourism could be one of the key sectors contributing to overcome the current economic difficulties and could play a vital part in a long-term green economic new deal. International tourist arrivals in Asia and the Pacific rose 3 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of the year, slower than the full-year growth of 10.5 percent in 2007. The slowdown was felt beginning August this year, following the spike in oil prices and the consequent cuts in airline capacity and increasing transport costs. Its impact on receipts was even more significant, as travelers trimmed their length of stay and their consumption in terms of type of accommodation and other activities. In the Philippines, international visitor arrivals grew by only 4 percent year-on-year to 2.6 million, although the figure was a record high for the country, according to the Tourism Department. "In the shorter term, overall prospects

[TheMason]

The headline is interesting. The article is talking about tourism but the headline refers to welcoming all foreigners.I've always found the Philippines to be very tourist friendly. Visas are easy to get, there is raedy access by air, and a variety of hotels and restaraunts at all price points. There are many facilities for diving, boating, sightseeing, beaches, etc. I would like to see something like the Tourist Police in Thailand established here, but overall, I don't see much more the Philippines can do to make themselves more accessible to tourists.There are some barriers to doing business and living here as an expat but there is a big difference between welcoming tourists and welcoming expats.The article doesn't mention recommended improvements. Any suggestions from anyone?

[retired]

The headline is interesting. The article is talking about tourism but the headline refers to welcoming all foreigners.I've always found the Philippines to be very tourist friendly. Visas are easy to get, there is raedy access by air, and a variety of hotels and restaraunts at all price points. There are many facilities for diving, boating, sightseeing, beaches, etc. I would like to see something like the Tourist Police in Thailand established here, but overall, I don't see much more the Philippines can do to make themselves more accessible to tourists.There are some barriers to doing business and living here as an expat but there is a big difference between welcoming tourists and welcoming expats.The article doesn't mention recommended improvements. Any suggestions from anyone?

The biggest improvement would be in the Philippine government spending more money to promote tourism . This country does a poor job of making itself visible to the international market . The Japanese and Koreans will come of course due to the exchange rate issue but i don't know that there will ever be a major influx of tourists from non - asian countries .Thailand of course relies heavily on non - asians for tourism but then tourism is a much larger segment of their economy . About 6 times the arrivals of the Philippines . Thailand also has the medical tourism speciality which draws many foreigners so maybe thats an option for the Philippines as well .To me it just seems like the Philippines is not a very " customer oriented " country . I frequently lose patience in simply getting someone to respond to an email request for information and most hotels here don't have web sites . It might also be helpful of course to do away with some of the countries dracioan laws such as deporting someone because they verbally insulted a Filipino . :thumbsup: