THE Philippines, by 2016, will attract at least 10
million foreign tourists and 35.5 million local ones, earn P1.99
trillion in tourism receipts and generate 7 million jobs for Filipinos,
according to Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.
Jimenez
cited on Wednesday budget airlines or low-cost carriers offering lower
rates and better deals and the government putting in place
infrastructure projects, including roads and airports, to ease visitors’
transfer to must-see destinations in the country.
He told delegates to
the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) Travel Mart on Wednesday that
major infrastructure projects to improve the country’s tourism sector
“are in the offing, mostly at the bidding stage, as the government’s
decision to go for seamless travel [across the country] is all in the works.”
Jimenez
said new airports would be built in Daraga, Albay, in the Bicol region
and Bohol in Central Visayas. He added that the three terminals of the
country’s premier Ninoy Aquino International Airport would be
rehabilitated to ease congestion and improve safety.
Pata
Vice Chairman Rick Anderson, in the same gathering, said the
Philippines is likely to achieve its targets for the tourism sector. He
also cited the Philippine economy as one of the fastest-growing
economies in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The
Philippines is a tourism giant now flexing its muscles…there is now
greater awareness [in the world about the Philippines],” Anderson also
told a news briefing during the Pata Travel Mart, which started on September 26 and will end on the 28th.
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