Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, Travel Corp.’s 6-star luxury river cruise line, will start offering travels within Asia and Europe to Filipinos this year.
Uniworld Asia manager Henry Yu said Filipinos were starting to mature as travelers and were ready for premium river cruise travel.
“This market (Philippines) has a very big potential. First of all, this is a young market that is willing to travel. Filipinos are now are looking for something different. We think river cruise is a potential product in Asia and I think Philippines is the shining star in the future,” he said.
TravCorp, a global travel company that manages tour operations, hotels and cruises worldwide, is looking at the Philippines as an emerging tourism market in the Asia Pacific region.
Collaboratig with Filipino travel company Rajah Travel Corp., TravCorp plans to expand its offerings in the Philippines through some of its key brands.
Yu said the current spending capacity in the Philippines and its young population made it an enticing market for travel companies.
Uniworld entered the Asian market four years ago and considers Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan as its top markets.
“We explored Malaysia and Singapore since they are English-speaking countries. There is no language barrier and that made it is easier for us to enter. The market in Hong Kong and Taiwan are amazing although they are Chinese-speaking but the people know how to appreciate and they cruise with their family,” Yu said.
Another tours company, Insight Vacations, said the Philippine outbound market had become sophisticated. It saw more middle-aged Filipino professionals and their families traveling to more exotic destinations.
Insight Vacations-Asia president Evon Ler said the Philippines was now its second biggest market in Asia after Singapore, with double digit growth in recent years.