Tourism department urged to target long-haul tourists

While the government should target as wide a base of tourists as possible, the Department of Tourism should exert more effort to encourage long-haul tourists, including those from Europe, to visit the country as they tend to stay longer and spend more.

According to Aileen Clemente, president of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association, visitors from Korea, Japan and the United States still accounted for the bulk of foreign tourists visiting the country in terms of volume.

“But those statistics can’t be taken by themselves. For example, fewer European tourists come here, but they stay longer. Tourists from long-haul destinations such as Europe give us more tourism receipts,” Ms. Clemente said in an interview.

Citing government data, she said foreign tourists spent about $90 a day. The longer they stayed in the country, the more they spent. Domestic tourists, on the other hand, spend around P2,000 a day.

Apart from tourists from long-haul destinations, Clemente said the local tourism industry should also target visitors from emerging markets such as China and India—both are huge, untapped markets.

“We have to have a portfolio. We can’t just focus on a few segments. We have to cater to the strong arrivals and the emerging markets as well,” she said.

To be successful in expanding the country’s tourism portfolio, Clemente said some policy changes would have to be implemented.

“We really have to adopt a more flexible visa system,” she said.

In a letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Bureau of Immigration, the PTAA—together with the Philippine Travel Operators Association and Board of Airline Representatives—sought a more liberal visa policy.

The request was to make all nationalities entering the country, even those in transit, automatically eligible upon arrival. Only those coming from countries that had been pre-determined as security threats should go through the usual visa procedures.

Also, foreigners and group visa applicants from their respective home countries should no longer be required to make personal appearances at Philippine consulates and embassies. On the part of travel agents and tour operators, they should be required to submit a list of their tourists upon completion of their visa requirements.