In fact, tourism stakeholders are already bracing themselves for the influx of foreign tourists, by adding more products and come-ons, expanding room accommodations, and boosting marketing efforts.
DOT figure showed that Cebu is the second most visited tourist destination
Cebu continues to be the top destination for foreign tourists with 321,116 in the first semester.
Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary Joseph Ace Durano said that the expansion in air access from major tourist markets, including the new charter flights from Incheon, Busan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Kaohsiung as well as increase in room supply, aggressive promotion, public and private sector partnership to diversify the tourism products greatly contributed to the hike in visitor volume to Cebu.
As the year of the tiger—2010 enters, Durano said Cebu will continue to the one of top preferred destinations among foreign tourists, calling stakeholders to get ready for the influx.
Cebu’s tourism industry was able to manage an encouraging growth in 2009 amid the depressed economic landscape as it immediately captured the interest of the active domestic market.
Cebu City Marriott Hotel posted an improving occupancy rate towards the end of 2009, an indication that local tourism is on its way to recovery starting 2010.
The hotel’s general manager Roy Abraham reported that the premier business hotel in the City registered an average occupancy rate of 70 percent, higher than the industry rate.
According to Abraham the year 2009 started with weak occupancy turn out due to the effect of global recession, but starting third quarter of this year guests traffic started to pick up.
Generally, he said the economy is starting to recover, “US economy is starting to pick up.” Abraham added that indication of the recovery has already started and people are already starting to travel.
Record from the DOT-7 as of third quarter of 2009 showed that a total of 748,861 domestic tourists visited the region for the period, a 5.4 percent up from the 710,763 recorded in the same period of last year.
“The domestic travelers have been a key market for the Philippines especially with the onset of the global financial crisis where international market was slow,” said Tourism senior adviser Phineas Alburo.
Alburo credited the positive development in the domestic tourism activities to the active promotions of the department on Cebu’s leisure market.
He said aside from the province’s white beaches and world class resorts, the DOT has also positioned Cebu as a destination for Island Hopping, bird watching, diving, kayaking and other adventure type activities.
This year, despite the “perceived” financial difficulties, more Filipinos are traveling in the intra-country destination, and Cebu is one in the “top of the list” among Filipino travelers.
Tourism advocate and chairman for Cebu Visitors Convention Bureau (CVCB) Jay P. Aldeguer expects Cebu to lead the tremendous growth of the country’s tourism in 2010, helping the country hit the 5-million arrival target.
“Domestic tourism will continue to grow and still cushion the slow down in international travel,” Aldeguer said.
However, he said that the year 2010 “we should see some foreign markets return to normal as some economies around the globe are showing signs of recovery.”
In the national front, as the global outlook for tourism is going upward, the Philippine tourism industry is looking at a much brighter 2010.
“Throughout the global crunch, Philippine tourism remained optimistic and adaptive to the challenges. Being a key driver for economic growth in the country, the tourism industry continues to carry a positive outlook.
In spite of the difficulties, the sector continued to be strong because the over-all focus is on opportunities instead of the threats,” said Durano.
Durano made this positive pronouncement of the Philippine tourism trade following the release of Euromonitor’s International’s report, a market research group based in the United Kingdom, which said that 2010 is a better year for the tourism sector, citing new opportunities and innovation, and suggesting pro-active measures to reverse the slump to continue recovery.
Euromonitor International, recently released the World Travel Market (WTM) Global Trends Report, which extensive outlook is supported by the report by the latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, which indicated that “the rate of decline has eased from January to August of 2009,” and stated that a “moderate growth can be expected” for the following years.
The reports estimate that global travel bookings will pick up steadily in 2010 after ‘a challenging year,’ dotted with a change in the travel landscape in light of the global scenario.
According to the UNWTO’s initial forecast for 2010, “International tourist arrivals are likely to witness a moderate recovery next year, with 1-3 percent growth..
This outlook reflects the gradual improvement of international tourism figures in recent months, as well as the better-than-expected economic indicators in some major source markets.
The report further emphasized that, “Asia will show the strongest rebound, while Europe and the Americas will probably take longer to recover.”
Source: The Freeman Cebu
