ASEAN Tourism Forum Discussed Development Plans for Growing Tourism

With an increase of 11.67% from the year prior’s record of 4.8 million tourist visits, the Philippines’ tourist record rose to 5.26 million in 2015.

(L-R) DOT ASec. Arturo Boncato; Governor Edgar Chatto, Province of Bohol; Congressman Josef Franz Alvarez, Province of Palawan

In the same year, the country’s tourism income which was posted to be at $4.84 billion on 2014 has grown to become $5 billion the year after.

As per record, the Philippines’ top sources of visits came from the North-Eastern region of Asia, namely Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau which cumulatively comprised the almost 50% of the overall population of tourists (49.8%).

Quoting Arturo P. Boncato, Assistant Secretary of the Tourism Department during the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), “Korea remains the top market with 24.99% share in total inbound traffic.”

Confident in the coming growth of tourism in the country, this year’s target number of tourists visiting the Philippines is expected to rise to as much as 6 million unique individuals.

Mr. Boncato added, “Our competitiveness ranking (in the 2015 Global Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum) improved because they’ve seen the Philippines to be very open: working on obstacles to people mobility and visa requirements have been relaxed.”

On the other hand, quoting the Philippine President, Benigno S.C. Aquino III while speaking at the recently held forum at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, “[While] Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam lead the pack (in tourism), the rest -- the Philippines, included -- are catching up.”

With the purpose of bolstering tourism in the Philippines, the country’s focus last year was aimed at constructing and upgrading of airport in Puerto Princesa which was expected to expand on its former 350,000 carrying capacity to up to 2 million. It is slated to be finished sometime in 2018.

In other places like Bohol, it’s Panglao International Airport is said to be completed by 2017 which could cover to as much as 1.7 million people when finished.

Other airports which are currently going through a makeover, upgrade, or rebuilt includes the Davao Airport, Iloilo Airport, and Bacolod-Silay Airport, and plenty others more not mentioned.

Not just solely focused on airports and expanding on its capacity, other means to improve on tourism were also taken steps to such as the improvement on roads which leads to travel destinations and the application of the so-called “pocket open skies policy” which tries to liberalize the country’s airports but with the sole exception of the heavily congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.

Tourism : A Growing Industry in the ASEAN Region

Tourism officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-countries updated the members of the press on how tourism in their respective countries performed in 2015 and the forecasts to meet in 2016 during the recently concluded ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in Manila, Philippines.

The Philippines

The Philippines has recorded an 11.67% increase in international tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 5.36 million in 2015. Revenue receipts from the tourism industry also grew from $2.43 billion in 2008 to $5 billion in 2015. The Philippine government is expecting to see greater number this year. The target is pegged at 6 million foreign arrivals.

Arturo Boncato, DOT Assistant Secretary

Department of Tourism (DOT) Assistant Secretary Arturo Boncato revealed that the Philippines’ top source market is Northeast Asia (Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) which accounted for 49.8% of total arrivals. 

“Korea remains the top market with 24.99% share in total inbound traffic,” Boncato added during the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) media briefing. South Korea is followed by USA, Japan, China, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Canada, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Germany.

Cambodia

An estimated 4.8 million tourists visited Cambodia in 2015, up by 6 percent from the 4.5 million visitors in 2014, Ministry of Tourism Undersecretary of State So Visothy said during the Cambodia NTO media briefing.

So Visothy, Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism Undersecretary of State

Cambodia's top inbound markets are: Vietnam, China, Lao PDR, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, USA, Malaysia, France and Australia.

Cambodia's forecast for 2016 is between 7.8-8 million visitors.

Brunei Darussalam

While most of the ASEAN member-countries gained an increase in tourist arrivals, Brunei Darussalam experienced a significant decrease in figures in 2015 compared to the previous year. Total air arrivals in 2015 is at 105,789 compared to 200,989 in 2014 (land arrivals not counted). Top inbound markets are: Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Ak Zulkhairi Pg Abdul Razak, Tourism Officer - Marketing and Promotion Centre, Brunei

The country is expected to boost the numbers in the current year. The country has now established the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism from Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources

Lao PDR

Sounh Manivong of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism shared that Lao People's Democratic Republic attracted 3.4 million foreign visitors in first three quarters of 2015. He said, it's on track to beat 2014's 4.1 million tourists.

Sounh Manivong, Director General of the Tourism Development Department

Manivong also announced that Laos has recently opened 24 international checkpoints, mostly on the Thai border, which will provide visas upon arrival. Thailand remains the top inbound market of Laos. 

During the media briefing, Manivong also clarified that the Laos-Myanmar friendship bridge is already completed but border crossing is still not possible as of the moment.

Singapore

Singapore has recorded an increase in international tourist arrivals by 0.4% as of the January-November period. Oliver Chong, Executive Director of Communications & Marketing Capability of the Singapore Tourism Board shared that the country has attracted 13.8 million visitors.

Oliver Chong, Executive Director, Communications & Marketing Capability

Singapore's top inbound markets are: Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Australia, India, Japan, Philippines, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, USA, UK, Vietnam, Taiwan and Germany.

Malaysia

Malaysia has experienced a decline in tourist arrivals in 2015 by about 7% compared to the previous year, amid political instability. The country's Ministry of Tourism remains hopeful that the figures will go up this year as they are positioning Kuala Lumpur as an "affordable luxury destination". 

YBhg. Dato' Abdul Khani Daud, Deputy Director General - Advertising & Digital

Malaysia targets 36 million tourists in 2020 from 24 million in 2009. It also hopes to increase its tourists receipts to RM168 billion from RM53 billion in 2009. 

Indonesia

Arief Yahya, Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia revealed that the government's target of tourist arrivals in 2015 was achieved with over 10 million arrivals. The tourism industry contributed about USD11.2 billion in foreign exchange in the same year.

Rizki Handayani, Director of Promotions for Southeast Asia and Arief Yahya, Minister of Tourism

Yahya gladly announced that their "Wonderful Indonesia" branding is at 47th position based on 2015 country brand strategy rating. With a more aggressive marketing campaign and promotion, the country expects to move up its ranking in the coming year.

Vietnam

Vietnam has seen strong growth of international tourists from 2006 to 2015. From 3.4 million in 2006, it reaches 7.94 million in 2015. It recorded an annual growth average of 9.25%.

Le Tuan Anh, Deputy Director General of Tourism Marketing Department

For the first time, South Korea reached over 1 million inbound tourists although China is still the top inbound market of Vietnam followed by south Korea, Japan, US, Taiwan, Malaysia, Russia, Australia, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, UK and France.

Vietnam targets 8.5 million tourist arrivals this year. It will focus its efforts and campaign on promoting Phu Quoc Island and the Mekong Delta, both in the south of the country.

Myanmar

Myanmar's tourism is gaining momentum with 4.68 million arrivals in 2015 from 3.08 million a year earlier, up by a whooping 52%. The country is expecting five to six million in arrivals this year.

Aye Kyi Kyi, Tourism Consultant - Myanmar

By the year 2020, the tourism ministry is expecting 7 million arrivals, focusing on sustainable tourism.

Thailand

Based on the figures presented during the NTO media briefing by the ASEAN member-countries, Thailand is the region's top tourist destination in 2015.

Dr. Uthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand

"In 2015, the Thai tourism industry hit the highest record in our history both in terms of revenue and number of tourist arrivals. According to the preliminary figures of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Thailand received tourism revenue of 1.4 trillion Baht or around 42 billion US Dollars with the growth of 23 percent, and a total number of international visitor arrivals of 29.8 million, which was an increase of 20 percent over 2014" said Dr. Uthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

"For this year, we will be focusing less on the number of visitor arrivals and more on attracting quality tourists. Therefore, we are targeting 2.4 trillion Baht or around 66.5 billion US dollars in revenue this year. Of that total, 1.5 trillion Baht or 43 billion US dollars will come from international markets and 850 billion Baht or 23.5 billion US dollars from domestic travel" Dr. Supasorn added.

PNoy Graced the Opening Ceremony of the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2016 in Manila

The opening of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum was graced by Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III on Wednesday, January 20.

President Benigno Aquino

In his speech during the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Tourism Forum (AFT) 2016 in Manila, the President said that the ASEAN region should maximize its tourism potential to further attract the international market. He said, “would it not be a more attractive value pack proposition to present tours that cover more, if not all ASEAN countries, in one sweep?”.

“After all, tourists who travel more than a day in order to experience Southeast Asia will likely not limit themselves to the Philippines alone. Visits to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and perhaps each and every member state would probably factor into their itinerary,” he added.

The President also stressed that the ASEAN region has a huge potential in terms of tourism. He reported that tourist arrivals in the region reached 105.1 million in 2014, up by 42.4% from 73.8 million in 2010. Aquino also said that of those 105.1 million visitors, 49.22 million came from within ASEAN itself.

President Aquino with ASEAN Tourism Ministers

“The strong interest that our people had in visiting each other’s countries highlights a potential to accelerate the growth of intra-ASEAN tourism, which redounds to all our benefits; not only does it contribute to our respective growth agendas, it also fosters greater understanding and strengthens the ties that bind our people,” Aquino said.

Aquino also mentioned that the entire ASEAN region should capitalize on the positive effect brought by the ASEAN integration. He emphasized that the ASEAN integration made the 10-member nations a more attractive destination for visitors around the world.

President Aquino also made an appeal for regional cooperation in keeping a balance between tourism growth and the protection of rich natural resources.

“For a region that occupies only three percent of the Earth’s surface, we play hosts to practically the entire spectrum of natural attractions: from the most diverse coral reefs in the world, to the beautiful beaches, and the rich terrestrial biodiversity,” Aquino said.

“This requires us to maintain a delicate balance between harnessing these attractions for the economic benefit of our people while ensuring that succeeding generations are also allowed to do so,” he added.

“This also means that if I do get the chance to travel to any of the countries in ASEAN, I will be able to spend more time walking the streets and imbibing all of the cultural activities and visit even cultural sites at leisure, as opposed to the very hectic and fixed schedules I had as president,” he added.

Performers during the ATF 2016 Opening Ceremony

Philippines to host the 35th ASEAN Tourism Forum

The Philippines is set to host the 35^th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum (ATF) from January 18 to January 22. It is a cooperative effort aimed at promoting the region as a single tourist destination.

The annual gathering brings together member nations of the ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Each year, the hosting of ATF is rotated among the ASEAN-member countries. This year, ATF marks its 35^thanniversary since its inauguration in Malaysia in 1981.

It is the fourth time that the Philippines will host the ATF. It has previously hosted the ATF in 1987 in Manila, 1998 in Cebu and 2006 in Davao.

This year's theme is "One Community for Sustainability."

The 2016 forum will launch the new ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) 2016 - 2020. Jimenez explained that the new plan would work towards "the development and growth of the region's tourism" as well as "ensuring that this growth is grounded on responsible, sustainable, and inclusive tourism."

One of the highlights of this event is the Travel Exchange (TRAVEX), a series of daylong, one-on-one, business-to-business meetings between foreign buyers and ASEAN sellers of tourism products and services.

For more information and programme updates for ATF 2016, visit www.atfphilippines.com, #atf2016ph.