New cruise tourism strategy for the Philippines

Sunday, 29 Dec, 2015 0

The Philippines has outlined its plans to attract more cruise ship traffic after the Department of Tourism (DOT) endorsed the National Cruise Development Strategy for the Philippines under a USAid program.

The strategy is to provide strategic direction for the government and private sector, and aims to increase traffic to about 50,000 cruise passengers next year.

"We have always maintained that the Philippines has very strong potential to cruise tourism, considering that we are an archipelago with 7,100 islands and conceivably we can be a cruise destination, a self-contained cruise destination. Not only a port of call as what we are seeing currently," said tourism undersecretary Benito C. Bengzon, Jr.

He acknowledged Philippines’ ports need to be upgraded to attract a bigger share of the growing cruise tourism industry in Southeast Asia.

"We have to attack it on all fronts. "The first is to make the Philippines part of the strategic direction for cruise tourism by starting with the ports. It’s important for us to make sure that our ports comply with or satisfy the minimum requirements of the big ships. And I say big ships because the trend is towards larger ships. Now you have mega ships carrying 4,000 to 5,000 passengers that are ported in Southeast Asia," added Bengzon.

Port developments will be concentrated in Manila, Puerto Princesa, Subic, and Boracay, he said.

TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

Intrepid Travel is a world leader in sustainable experience-rich travel that has been taking travellers to discover the world’s most amazing places...

City Cruises is a leading operator of sightseeing, dining and charter services operating in London, York and Poole. We offer...

Family-owned Olympic Holidays has been arranging holidays to Greece, the Greek islands and Cyprus for more than half century. The company is unrivalled...

AXA Assistance specializes in best-in-class cost containment, health and travel services. Over 60 years of experience combined with a US and...

With long periods of Thailand’s History, according to evidences and studies, Sukhothai was the first kingdom of Thailand. At that time, an early Thai...

The city has been the vibrant heart of Japan for over 400 years, and is a crossroads where tradition meets...

Local spices spike the fragrant air of Morocco. Cradled by the dunes of the Sahara, the Kingdom has been inhabited...

We work with reliable data providers with global coverage, that guarantee data representativeness as well as compliance with International Personal...

Air Transat is Canada’s number one leisure airline. It flies to some 60 international destinations in more than 25 countries...

Blue Diamond Resorts consistently goes above and beyond guest expectations by delivering groundbreaking vacation experiences through our exceptional collection of...

In 2019, Buffalo Tours and Olympus Tours joined the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) family and formed Discova. With the...

River cruising is a treat for the senses, allowing you to see, touch, feel and experience the world like never...

Chargebacks911 offers scalable solutions that are customized for any business of any size in any industry. With the flexibility to...

ECOMMPAY is an international payment service provider and direct bank card acquirer, engineering bespoke payment solutions for clients worldwide. Our...