CEBU City (07 September 2007) - European tourists are coming back in the Philippines in a deep way, thanks to the country's rich underwater resources that are being promoted as the world's best sites for scuba diving.

"The biggest travel wholesalers in France and Germany began to carry the Philippines again," Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said in a news briefing during the Philippine Travel Exchange 2007 at the Cebu International Convention Center.

Asked what prompted European travelers to take a second look at the Philippines, Durano said scuba diving is emerging to be the magnet for the high-spending travelers who look for the world-class facilities.

"Scuba diving is one product we are very competitive in," Durano said. "The Philippines for the first time this year is focusing on scuba diving."

International arrivals grew slower than the arrivals from East Asian countries over the past few years, as Europeans preferred other Asian countries to the Philippines as beach destinations. The DOT said it has shifted its marketing thrust in Europe to scuba diving to win back the attention of European travelers.

Durano said Qatar airways, which flies to Europe, has included the Philippines in its two scuba diving packages, because of the country's magnificent marine resources.

"We have the best scuba diving site in the world," said Jose Clemente III, president of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association, citing the diving sites in Batangas, Mindoro, Palawan, and Bohol.

In the first half of 2007, visitor arrivals from Europe rose 13.6 percent to 144,837 from 127,525 a year ago, led by strong arrivals from such countries as France, Russia, and Italy.

Blaise Borezee, a French marketing consultant hired by the Department of Tourism, said the Philippines was selected as the "Destination of the Year" for the Scuba Diving Show to be held in Paris in January 2008, when around 50,000 scuba divers are expected to attend.

"During the show there will be a lot of conferences about the Philippines. We organized games with free trips to the Philippines. The Philippines will get the biggest exposure of all destinations during the show," he said.

Borezee said the positive travel advisory for the Philippines given by the French government in June will further boost tourist arrivals from the European country in the coming months.

Edward Grigoriev, the marketing representative of the Department of Tourism in Russia, said the Philippines is now a priority diving destination in Russia. "The Philippines has a lot of natural and cultural assets," he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has recently included Russia in the list of countries with 21-day visa free entry in the Philippines. "We should be quite aggressive on this country, because it has huge territory," Grigoriev said.

Even in Eastern Europe, the Philippines is getting more attention from the tourists, said Vincent Soriano, who is in charge of promoting the country in Poland, the Czech Republic, and other countries in the region.

"I can see only double-digit rises in arrivals from these countries in the coming years," said Soriano, who helped Thailand get foreign tourists in the past.

Some 110 foreign buyers, including 25 tour operators from Europe, and 147 domestic sellers, representing 86 hotels, resorts, and other establishments participated in the Philippine Travel Exchange, described by Tess Mauricio, the event's project manager said.

Margie Munsayac, secretary general of the Philippine Travel Exchange, confirmed this, saying the biggest number of foreign delegates this year will translate to more arrivals in the coming months and years.

"It is like having the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit hosted in Cebu once more, but in a bigger magnitude because we are talking directly to foreign buyers," said DOT regional director for Central Visayas Patricia Aurora Roa.

Daniel Corpuz, executive director of the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp., raised the possibility that they will conduct a bidding for the right to host the event, among cities in the future.

Durano said the aggressive collaboration and participation of the private sector in the event has evolved to major breakthroughs in terms of opening new foreign markets and reviving the dormant ones by directly tapping key industry players.

The DOT looks at more than 3 million foreign arrivals this year, in line with its medium-term target of attracting five million visitors by 2010.

In the first half, arrivals were up 7.6 percent to 1.529 million. "There was no month that arrivals fell below 200,000 this year. This means that tourism is now an all-year round business in the Philippines," Durano said. Roderick T. dela Cruz

New hotel and condominium towers to rise in Cebu

CEBU City - The Alegrado family is building a new hotel and condominium complex near its sprawling Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort on Mactan Island to keep up with rapidly increasing demand among foreign tourists for deluxe accommodation in Central Visayas .

Mactan Island, where the luxurious Shangri La's Mactan Island Resort & Spa, Waterfront Airport Hotel, and Hilton Cebu Resort & Spa are located, is emerging to be the fastest developing tourism destination in the country. Korean investors are building a P5 billion hotel called Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa on the same island.

Arcadio Alegrado, honorary consul general of Austria , said they will also start construction of a new resort on Panglao Island in Bohol province next year, following the completion of the expansion project for the 100-room Maribago resort, which tendered a dinner for delegates of the Philippine Travel Exchange 2007 on September 5.

The Alegrado family is also the owner of the Sumilon Bluewater Island Resort in Cebu and the Almont Hotel and Resort in Butuan City in Agusan del Norte province.

Some 110 foreign travel buyers, including 25 tour operators from Europe , and 147 domestic sellers, representing 86 hotels, resorts, and other establishments participated in the Philippine Travel Exchange, described by Tess Mauricio, the event's project manager as the biggest ever.

Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said more world-class accommodation facilities are needed in Cebu and Bohol to meet the needs of high-spending travelers.

Durano said that while the stock of hotel and resort rooms in Central Visayas increased 1,800 this year, this remains inadequate to accommodate the total number of international and domestic visitors flocking in the region.

Visitor arrivals in Central Visayas have been rising at double-digit rate this year, with Cebu alone expected to account for more than half a million foreign visitors.

Durano said that of the 14,000 rooms available for occupancy in Central Visayas , only half can be considered world-class. The tourism chief said most foreign tourists such as Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Indians, Russians, Europeans and Americans look for the best accommodation facilities.

The tourism chief said that if there are factors limiting the growth of tourism, these are the lack of five-star hotels and resorts and infrastructure facilities in the different regions around the country.

“It is still very much a supplier’s market for the industry as resorts and hotels are overwhelmed with the strong demand for rooms. It is a good challenge to have and we need to ensure that infrastructure development preserves and sustains the natural resources in these areas,” he said.

He said even small islands are now getting a lot of attention from foreign investors and tourists. He said an international luxury resort company is developing a six-star hotel on Elephant Island , Marinduque.

Durano described 2007 as a milestone year for the tourism industry. “First semester statistics registered more than 1.5 million foreign tourist arrivals, and with the upbeat and sustained momentum of visitor influx into the country, we are looking at breaching, for the first time, the three million mark by year end,” he said.

The tourism department expects tourism receipts to top $2.9 billion or P133 billion this year, on the back of a 20.1 percent annual growth in average tourism expenditure.

Durano said private businesses continue to benefit from this growth as the amount goes directly to the hotels, restaurants, spas and resorts, souvenir shops, entertainment and transportation services, which are the front liners of the tourism sector.

Travel and tourism contributes an estimated 3.49 million jobs, making it as one of the employment generating industries of the national economy.

Durano said over US$2 billion in investments have been poured into tourism estates, hotel and resorts developments in the country and spread out into other emerging destinations such as Marinduque and Eastern Samar .

The DOT, together with the local governments, is positioning other destinations such as South Cotabato, Bantayan Island , Pampanga and Camarines Sur for both travelers and investors to consider.

Additional new routes have been opened such as Korea-Davao , Korea- Kalibo, Taipei-Cebu, and Shanghai-Cebu, among others.

With India and Russia identified as the emerging and fast-growing travel markets, the department is currently in negotiation for new routes from these countries.

“The milestone the industry has achieved confirms that we are on the right track and that we have set the momentum for 2008 and beyond,” Durano said.

The DOT looks at more than 3 million foreign arrivals this year, in line with its medium-term target of attracting five million visitors by 2010.

In the first half, arrivals were up 7.6 percent to 1.529 million. Roderick T. dela Cruz