Austria, PH to boost tourism ties

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The Philippines will pursue a Memorandum of Tourism Cooperation with Austria to grow the tourism numbers of the two countries.

Secretary Christina Frasco of the Department of Tourism (DOT) on March 7, in a working visit to Vienna cited Austria as an emerging European source market.

Susanne Kraus-Winkler, state secretary for tourism of Austria, broached the conclusion of a “working holiday program” provided for in the memorandum of understanding that was signed in Manila between the Austrian and Philippine governments in October 2023.

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Working holiday programs combine vacations with practical work experience abroad to enable young people to finance part of their stay abroad. Through this program, they can enter into temporary employment arrangements in the destination country and also make use of educational institutions.

The “workation” program is aimed at people aged between 18 and 30 years old who want to broaden their understanding of other countries and cultures. Foreign language skills are an important aspect of a successful start to working life abroad.

Frasco noted an impressive 89 percent recovery rate of visitor arrivals from that country to the Philippines in 2023 at 13,180, vis-í -vis the 14,840 arrivals recorded in 2019 pre-COVID-19 pandemic.

The Filipino community makes up the largest Asian community in Austria, with approximately 30,000 Filipinos, and as many as 60,000 Filipino-Austrian nationals.

During the meeting held at the sidelines of ITB Berlin 2024, Frasco reiterated the need to forge cooperation to exchange best practices in culture, heritage, and retirement tourism, strengthen sustainable tourism frameworks and upskilling programs in hospitality, and facilitate the enhanced connectivity between the Philippines and Austria.

“The Memorandum of Tourism Cooperation (will) formalize our efforts to benchmark best tourism practices on sustainable tourism, enhance our people-to-people exchanges, and further enhance our frameworks on human capital development, among others,” said Frasco.

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