DOT sets sights on India

Monday, March 16, 2009

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is eyeing India’s “nouveau riche” (new rich).

“We have been (eyeing) India in the past three years and it is now ripe to be our tourist market,” Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano told reporters during the opening of the 4th Trabaho sa Turismo Fair at SM City Cebu last Friday.

Being a fast-growing economy, India’s labor force has a high purchasing power and is considered the second largest in the world. A large chunk of its work force is in agriculture, services and industrial sectors.

The DOT is working with Philippine Airlines (PAL) to establish direct flights between the Philippines and India (New Delhi) sometime in the second or third quarter of this year.

India is now among the targets of the diversified marketing strategy that the DOT started four years ago. The DOT intensified its marketing efforts in these new target markets amid the global financial crisis that is affecting the country’s “long overhaul” markets, like the United States.

The DOT is also promoting the Philippines to Russia and China.

At present, Durano said, there are now three direct access points to Russia and four to China. The tourism agency is planning to coordinate with airline companies and add more flights to Russia and to penetrate the “interior” areas of China.

DOT is also promoting regional travel around Asia. Durano said the Philippines is getting a chunk of travelers from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Kuwait, among others.

Spending

“Despite the global crisis, they still travel but more around Asia than to long overhaul destinations because countries in Asia are nearer and less expensive,” he noted.

Earlier, DOT disclosed plans to spend P100 million for promotions in China, another P100 million in Korea and P150 million for other areas in the Asia-Pacific this year.

DOT intends to maintain a steady flow of tourists coming to the country to spur investments, develop the local tourism industry and create jobs.

Apart from targeting new tourist markets, the agency is also pushing for the creation of new products like eco-tourism sites and is promoting activities, such as bird-watching and scuba diving, among tourists from France and Germany.

Durano cited Cathay Pacific Airways for having achieved last year a double growth in the number of German passengers and a 60-percent growth for those from France.

“(The) tourism industry is one of the sectors that can help our country amid the global financial crisis. About four million Filipinos are directly employed by the industry. I see (that) tourism will continue to grow in the next three to four years,” Durano said.

He added that some 8,000 hotel rooms across the country are anticipated to become operational in the next few years. At least 2,000 of the total are expected to open this year. (NRC)