First posted 04:46pm (Mla time) Mar 05, 2006
By Leila Salaverria
Inquirer
Eight years after it was first drafted, a tourism accord between the Philippines and Russia will be signed this month to further boost travel and friendly relations between the two countries.
Tourism secretary Joseph Ace Durano and Minister Vladimir Stazhalkovsky of the Russia Federation's Federal Agency for Tourism are scheduled to sign the bilateral agreement on March 14 at the Philippine Embassy in Moscow.
The accord, first drafted in 1998, seeks to simplify border control and customs matters and to provide for the exchange of information, the training of tour guides, the organization of group and individual tours and the establishment of tourism offices in both countries, among others.
In a statement, Durano also noted that Russia is becoming a major source of tourists to the Philippines, pointing out that the number of Russian visitors here grew 108 percent from 2004 to 2005.
In January of this year, the Philippines played host to 334 Russian tourists who visited Cebu, Bohol and Boracay.
The World Tourism Organization has also ranked Russian travelers tenth in the list of the biggest spenders.
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