Tags: Tourism
By Alexander Villafania
MANILA CITY, METRO MANILA – The Department of Tourism vows to continue enticing more people to travel to the Philippines through the Internet and non-traditional media campaigns.
Former DoT secretary made his mark by by tapping into the local blogging community to promote tourism even among Filipinos. The agency previously held events with travel bloggers and online media to showcase the best tourist spots in the country.
During the unveiling of the “Top Philippines Emerging Business Destinations” by the Philippine Tour Operations Association (PHILTOA), Vicente “Enteng” Romano III , DoT undersecretary for planning and promotions, said they will unveil new and additional promotional strategies in the next six months.
Some of these strategies involve establishing a central tourism website wherein other tour sites can link to, allowing interested visitors to look into the different tourist spots and tour packages in a single location.
Another plan is to encourage tourism agencies and hotels to establish online booking systems that would allow visitors to go to a one-stop-shop facility for their airfare, land travel, accommodations, and day tours.
Romano also indicated that the DoT itself could be looking into an online booking system, saying that the department has already given tour agencies a heads up about their plans.
“Agencies that are ready with their online booking system will have the advantage because we will be linking with them,” said Romano.
“The Philippines doesn’t have that kind of service, unlike other countries where it’s easier for tourists to plan their visits because they only need to go to one shop.”
Few travel agencies have integrated booking facilities that allow users to pay for their airfare, accommodations and other necessities in a single visit. The websites of the Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and Seair are among those that have online booking facilities for airfare.
The success of these airlines, as well as some hotels in allowing for online payments had resulted in an increase in travel bookings to the Philippines over the past few years.
In an interview, PHILTOA president Cesar Cruz said the Philippines already hit the three million foreign visitor mark in 2009, though these results are still lower than expected according to the DOT.
David Brett, president of booking application provider Amadeus, said travel is one of the most searched topics online in the Philippines.
Citing a recent report by Yahoo! and Nielsen on the online behavior of Filipinos, Brett said Filipinos are using their mobile phones to access information from the Internet. Others are also using their phones to check on travel opportunities.
“The success of building the Philippines as a tourist destination also lies in making it easier for people to travel here. Utilizing the Internet, as well as mobile to accommodate their needs will surely increase the interest of people to travel here,” Brett said.
(This article also appears on Yahoo! Fit To Post)
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