The Philippines is aiming to double tourism revenues in six years while avoiding the mass-market route taken by some of its Southeast Asian neighbors, according to the country’s new tourism minister
The archipelago of more than 7,000 islands boasts some of the world’s most beautiful white-sand beaches but annual tourist revenues are a paltry 2.25 billion dollars, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said in an interview with the AP.
"We want double that, at least," said Lim, a former high-end resort developer who was appointed to President Benigno Aquino’s cabinet last month.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand estimates that its country will earn 430 billion baht (13 billion US dollars) from tourism in 2010, but Lim said "I’m not sure whether I would like to emulate the Thai model.”
"I would like to go for quality tourism and just make up for the lack of (tourist) numbers in revenues," he said.
"Unbridled tourism is also bad because the environment suffers. So we are very careful about the type of tourism we want. The people who come for culture, history and nature, maybe we can receive them."
The timeframe for doubling revenues is the six-year term of Aquino’s presidency.
Just over three million tourists visited the country last year, down 3.9 percent from 2008 as tourism worldwide retreated amid the global financial crisis.
By contrast, tourist arrivals in Thailand, the industry leader in Southeast Asia, fell only 2.68 percent to 14.15 million last year, according to Thai government data.
Lim said the Philippines tourism industry had terrific potential, despite large areas of the south remaining off-limits to foreigners because of Muslim insurgents’ penchant for kidnapping.
By David Wilkening
