SOMETIMES, jumping out of one’s box, trying out new things, and conducting a listening tour will work wonders for important national endeavors such as tourism.
This is probably what Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco felt and realized after her recent face-to-face listening tour with travel and tourism stakeholders in South Korea. Why Seoul of all places?
South Koreans have traditionally been a huge and important market for Philippine tourism, as manifested in the growing number of arrivals this year. As of May 7, 2024, the Philippines has welcomed some 599,200 visitors from South Korea, representing a 26.86 percent share of the total foreign visitor arrivals.
‘It is worthy to cite and support the efforts of the DOT in recognizing the importance of the foreign market being the Philippines’ top source of international tourist arrivals pre-pandemic…’
“Our bonds with [South Korea] have never been stronger, being our top source market for 2023. Last year alone, we welcomed over 1,450,000 Korean visitors who constituted over a quarter of our total international tourist arrivals,” Secretary Frasco said.
This year, she said, the Department of Tourism anticipates 1.8 million to 2 million visitor arrivals from the top source market as it is also moving to expand air connections with South Korea where 12 airlines are serving key destinations in the Philippines, such as Bohol, Cebu, Clark, Kalibo, and Manila.
Developing further the Korean market is therefore a very viable tact for the tourism industry, since we are already strong in this niche. Koreans love mountain-climbing, diving, and golf, and so the tourist sites here offer the best in these activities. Other tourism areas for them are the Philippines’ sun and beach destinations, entertainment and leisure, English as a second language (ESL), and wellness and medical tourism.
Frasco hopes international visitors will consider putting the Philippines in their itinerary more if certain projects are made specifically to meet their travel and leisure needs. This is the reason behind the department’s plan to construct the country’s first tourist first aid facilities and additional hyperbaric chambers for dive safety in strategic locations.
Secretary Frasco disclosed that the safety of tourists is the DOT’s topmost priority. To this end, the department has introduced the first Philippines Tourist First Aid Facility, complete with medical professionals to treat patients right away. The Department of Tourism aims to construct at least five of these tourist first aid facilities this year, in partnership with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and the Department of Health.
There is a practical reason for providing these first aid facilities for tourists — there will no longer need to find a hospital in emergency cases because help is within the tourist destinations. With the language barrier and limited transportation facilities, getting medical help in emergencies is quite hard for foreigners.
“These tourist facilities aim to provide emergency first aid assistance to our tourists who may come upon issues while they are in our tourist destinations,” the Secretary said recently during the DOT’s briefing with South Korean media partners, and listening tour with South Korea travel and tourism stakeholders.
The new project, according to the Secretary, is part of the DOT’s efforts to elevate the status of Philippine tourism in the world, alongside with other initiatives that have been rolled out since last year, including the launch of the Hop-On Hop-Off Tourist Bus Tours in key cities, construction of tourist rest areas, and the launching of the Philippine Experience Program nationwide, among others.
It is worthy to cite and support the efforts of the DOT in recognizing the importance of the foreign market being the Philippines’ top source of international tourist arrivals pre-pandemic with a total of 1,989,322 arrivals or a 24.08 percent share in 2019.
