What's On Expat Philippines News Paper

What's On & Expat - Philippines

October 28-November 10, 2007

No Cancellation from Foreign Bookings, says Tourism Official

By Agnes M. Abrau

The foreign tourist market seems undeterred by the recent mall explosion in Makati City. A top official from the Department of Tourism (DOT) said as of press time there is no report of cancellation of bookings from

any tourist group outside of the Philippines in the wake of the mall bomb blast on Oct. 19.
Tourism Undersecretary Eduardo Jarque Jr. said the unfortunate bomb blast in Glori

Collections from
Visa Extension Up by 18%

By Ana Kristine B. Valenzuela

Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Marcelino Libanan reported that the BI earned as much as PhP370million from the increasing number of foreign visitors and investors opting to stay longer in the country.
   Collections from visa extensions were recorded at PhP370.17 million, up by 18 percent from last year. There were 151,066 applications for extensions approved during the last eight months, BI said.
   “These statistics speak for themselves. Our country is fast emerging as one of the most favored tourist destinations in the Asia Pacific,” Libanan said. “The fact that foreign tourists are entering our country in droves is an indication that indeed foreign investors’ confidence in our country has tremendously improved.”
   Along with the rise of foreign visitors wanting to stay longer in the country, Libanan also signed a deal, through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korea. The BI commissioner and the United Korean Community Association in the Philippines (UKCAP) inked the MOU which offers support and assistance to help the BI identify undesirable and illegal aliens in the country. Korean nationals who are not properly

documented and those illegally overstaying are encouraged to get the proper papers from the BI.
   Under the agreement, UKCAP will sponsor monthly surveys until December of this year to investigate undocumented Koreans. The UKCAP committed itself to “help settle or shoulder the penalties and cost of deportation of illegal and undesirable Korean nationals here in the Philippines.”
    “I am confident enough that with this agreement the problem about the burgeoning number of undocumented Koreans, as well as those engaged in illegal retail trade business, will be mitigated. But make no mistake about it, we are not necessarily anti-foreigner,” Libanan said.
   The BI Commissioner expressed assurance that with the memorandum, the issues concerning the number of Korean nationals violating Philippine immigration and trade laws would be addressed. Government figures show that there are 572,133 Korean visitors and only 11,889 of them are properly documented. Libanan added that a total of 1,953,617 foreigners arrived in the country within the last eight months.

etta 2, a popular mall in Makati City, did not cause any cancellation from foreign tourist groups who are set to visit the Philippines.
   Jarque said his office has been monitoring the movement of tourism “from outside” since the Oct. 19 explosion at Glorietta Mall. He also said they have been coordinating with the DOT overseas offices regularly since the incident.
   He also stated that he met with heads of three major travel and tour groups—the Philippine Tourism Association (Philtoa), Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) and Nitas to get updates and feedback from tourist groups.
   “So far we haven’t heard from them. I hope it stays,” Jarque said.
     There was one hiccup though, the undersecretary said. A day after the bomb blast, a group of Australian media asked the DOT to postpone their trip at a later date in November. But a day after, they said they are pushing through with their trip.
    “We haven’t heard of any group that have left early because of the unfortunate incident,” Jarque told What’s On & Expat.
    The Oct. 19 explosion in Glorietta 2 killed 11 people and wounded more than a hundred others. Police and bomb experts are still investigating the case.

             Business as usual
   Jarque said news of the bomb blast did not bother journalists and travel agents. Travel writers from the Eco-First Media in the U.S. as well as representatives from top US-based dive tour operators Pacific Leisure Consolidator, the West Coast Dive Shop and San Francisco’s Activenture Divers arrived here last week.
    Six members from leading Australian media outfit INK Media and representatives from the Australian magazine, Out & About with Kids, were also here to explore

various family-friendly destinations.
   Jarque said the tourism department also continues its familiarization campaign to foreign markets.
    The familiarization trip, which is an important aspect of the DOT’s marketing and promotions activities, is regularly conducted to let foreign nationals experience the Philippines and its various tourism destinations, activities and services. Such planned tours, the DOT said, have proven effective in helping the country project a positive image internationally, consequently enticing more visitors to the country.
    The DOT played host recently to three groups of foreign media from India, China and Japan—nine journalists from Mumbia, India; 22 participants from the Japanese press particularly from highend publications. Other participants are from Japanese nursing home facilities, that are visiting the Philippines to explore medical tourism opportunities in the country.
    More familiarization trips are also scheduled this month up to the end of the year.

                    Confident
   Despite travel advisories issued by the United Kingdom, the United States and other major countries to their citizens to exercise extreme caution while traveling to the Philippines, the tourism department is optimistic about meeting its projected 3.1 million visitor arrivals this year.
   “(Tourism) Secretary Ace Durano is very confident we could achieve the target,” Jarque said.
    He added that the first eight months of 2007 already recorded some two million tourist arrivals, saying that the last months of the year—September through December—are peak months thereby arrivals are expected to increase.