Japan woes to hit air travel sector

MANILA, Philippines—The growth of the country’s international air travel sector may slow down this year as a result of the crisis caused by the earthquake in Japan—a major trading partner and the Philippines’ third-largest source of tourists.

A ranking industry official said the people of Japan will likely put off vacations or any unnecessary travel in the coming months as they were focusing on rebuilding after the magnitude 9 earthquake that caused a tsunami.

“The Japanese will have to spend their money to rebuild or help others that were affected by the calamity,” said Porvenir Porciuncula, deputy executive director of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

Last year, South Korea was the biggest source of tourists to the Philippines, contributing 740,622 visitors, data from the tourism department showed.

The United States came in second with 600,165, but Porciuncula said this was mostly due to returning Filipinos who had already been naturalized as American citizens.

There were about 358,744 tourists from Japan, making it the third-largest tourist market for the Philippines.

Luckily for the country, Porciuncula said the country’s travel sector was dominated mainly by Filipino travelers, not foreigners.

Last year, 3.3 million foreign tourists came to the Philippines. But CAB data based on airline reports showed that there were 14 million international passengers in the country last year, half coming in and half going out.

Porciuncula said the local air travel sector had shown resilience in recent years, posting growth despite travel advisories issued by several countries against the Philippines. The industry has also been able to weather different crises such as international disease outbreaks and the recent global recession.

Earlier this month, the International Air Transport Association said events in Japan had resulted in a 1-percent loss in international traffic in March, with the slowdown led by the Asia-Pacific region.

Asia-Pacific carriers saw a traffic loss of more than 2 percent; North American carriers, 1 percent; and Europe’s carriers, 0.5 percent.