'RP most popular destination in Asia'

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abs-cbnNEWS.com | 04/18/2009 10:11 AM

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The Philippines has been named the most popular destination in Asia at this year's World Travel Fair (WTF) in Shanghai, China.

After a public vote and an evaluation process by professional jurors from the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration and VNU Exhibitions Europe, the Philippines received the highest citation conferred during the WTF, the outbound travel industry's leading source fair in Asia.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano attributed the win to the country's competitive tour pricing, the remarkable progress of the transportation sector, and the Filipino's friendliness and hospitality to visitors.

"The Philippines is one of the fastest growing destinations in China’s outbound travel industry, recording a 74-percent month-on-month growth rate in visa issuances for February of this year. We are also the nearest tropical beach country for the Chinese, as Manila is only 2 hours away from Guangzhou, while Cebu is only 3 hours away from Shanghai," he said in a statement.

The WTF receives thousands of travel buyers worldwide, who come to hold exchanges with more than 500 exhibitors in 62 countries. This year, the fair was held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center.

"The Chinese travelers rank our country’s beaches and heritage sites high, as proven by the various recognitions they have awarded to our tourist spots," Durano said.

For his part, Undersecretary for Tourism Planning and Promotions Eduardo Jarque Jr. said the country has always gathered positive feedback from Asian tourists.

"The Philippines has managed to secure, among others, the Best Leisure Destination in the last year’s WTF for Boracay, the Top 10 Island Getaways for Chinese Summer Travel for Bohol, and the only Asian entry in the list of premier destinations in the acclaimed World Traveller Magazine," he said.

Jarque added that the Philippines belonged to the top 10 most searched destinations of Shanghai online users in Baidu, the biggest search engine in China.

The Philippines posted a 58.5-percent growth last year in terms of visa issuances for travel to the Philippines from Eastern China plus Sichuan and Chongqing.

For the first three months of 2009, the country's growth rate stood at 20 percent, making the Philippines one of the fastest-growing outbound destinations for Chinese tourists.

as of 04/18/2009 10:11 AM

yeah, after decades of being so isolated the chinese are now traveling with a vengeance. they also just unveiled cheap trips to taiwan.. I keep seeing this on CCtv9.

oh china is getting so cosmopolitan esp shanghai & beijing..

Dapat lang !!! sayang ang Tourism ek-ek promotion kung walang tourist na pupunta dito sa Pilipinas

If Philippines is so popular as an Asian destination, why aren't the tourist spots crowded? Where has all the income from tourism gone?

Kulang sa infrastructure ang Pinas. Daming pwedeng puntahan na mga potential tourist spots kaso pangit ang mga daan.

Kurakot kasi ang DPWH.

daming tambay at engot sa pinas na puro kurakot naman ang binoboto.

Nag top yata ang DPWH sa pagkakaalam ko.

Tinalo yata ang BIR.

Pero ewan ko lang kung may mananalo sa PNP kung tototohanin nila.

Kahit sa private sector ganun din ang kurakutan.

Pati nga yearbook namin sa college kinurakot. Nagbayad kami ng mahal pero hindi maganda ang quality ng paper na ginamit. Pati ang printing hindi maganda.

Ang rent namin sa Toga eh doble pala ang halaga. Nag kumisyon pa yung mga teachers namin.

Sarap patayin ng mga unggoy na teachers namin eh, isipin mo na lang na umutang, nagsanla, nagbenta ng property ang mga magulang ng mga estudyante para lang makatapos ang anak.

Which college?

We should promote the country always, do not rely of Department of Tourism for their Tourism promotion..... their promotion only good as the term of the secretary...

They pretty much are. Problem as mentioned before is infrastructure. They aren't crowded because we lack the hotels, resorts, packages and tours to quench the demand.

Kudos to our Secretary of Tourism for his success in introducing the Philippines to Korea and China. Hopefully, soon other countries will join the bandwagon. We are looking at Russia, and I think India should also be a target market.