Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s working visit to Japan will help boost Philippine tourism.
“We are very thankful to the president for making time for the tourism stakeholders of Japan because this demonstrates that tourism really is a priority under the Marcos administration and that the potential that the Philippines and Japan hold in terms of exchanges in tourism is something we have yet to fully maximize and will do so under this administration,” Frasco said at the sidelines of the high-level meeting organized by the Department of Tourism Thursday.
She said the president made it known to the Japanese tourism stakeholders that the Philippines is open and ready to welcome more Japanese tourists, underscoring his administration’s commitment to carry out aggressive infrastructure projects aimed at improving road networks and boost Internet connectivity in tourist destinations.
The president also announced during the dialog that the Philippine government would lobby for the “lifting or limiting” of Japan’s travel advisories against key travel destinations in the Philippines to revive the pandemic-hit tourism industry and further strengthen the friendship between Japan and the Philippines.
Prior to the pandemic, Japan was the country’s fourth biggest source of international tourist arrivals with 682,788 visitors in 2019. About 99,557 Japanese tourists arrived in the country in 2022.
Frasco said the DOT aimed to develop tourism products popular among Japanese tourists including diving, MICE and education tourism.
es has also gained popularity as a preferred education tourism destination for learning English and school trips. With the resumption of travel post-pandemic, and the growing interest in sustainable tourism, we are seeing new and innovative programs emerging in school trip modules offered in the marketplace. MICE is also a segment we would like to develop further,” Frasco said.
The Philippines is also a popular retirement destination for the Japanese. As a first step leading towards that retirement decision, “long stay programs to the Philippines are continuously being pushed,” she said.
The Philippines houses the largest Japanese diaspora population in Southeast Asia and the fourth biggest in the world. The Philippine Retirement Authority, one of the DOT’s attached agencies, listed Japan as the sixth biggest retirement market for the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Promotions Board Philippines and the DOT look forward to welcoming more foreign visitors to the Philippines after generating over P100 million in sales leads while showcasing the country’s best offerings at the ASEAN Tourism Forum on Feb. 2 to 5, 2023 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The ATF is the biggest annual tourism event in the ASEAN region, attracting key tourism stakeholders including policy makers, industry leaders and tourism-related service providers.
“Over and above our impressive turnout in the number of sales leads, I am in much awe of how the participation and performance of the Philippines depicted the excellence and heart of the Filipino brand which truly brought the best of the country to the ASEAN region,” said TPB chief operating officer Maria Margarita Montemayor Nograles.
Some 16 local exhibitors from the airline industry, tour operators and accommodations led the Philippine delegation to network and engage with 115 international buyers at the ATF Travel Exchange.
The Philippine pavilion showcased the country’s rich cultural heritage and award-winning destinations such as Boracay, Cebu and Palawan.