President Benigno Aquino III has issued Proclamation No. 295, identifying Philippine holidays in 2012, and scheduling them near weekends, to give workers enough time to visit their families in the provinces.  Under the proclamation, there will be at least six long weekends during 2012.

A survey by the National Statistics Office (NSO) found that about 23.1 million Filipinos who are 15 years old and above have travelled to another place within the country from April to September 2010.  These domestic travellers represent 36.6 percent of the estimated 63.2 million Filipinos who are 15 years old and over, according to the 2010 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors.

International visitor arrivals in the Philippines rose 12 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2011, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT).  Data show that arrivals during the 10-month period reached 3.186 million, up from 2.846 million arrivals recorded a year ago.  The month of July produced the biggest arrivals with 360,784 while the month of February posted the highest growth at 18.52 percent.  

International visitor arrivals in the Philippines went up by 11.7 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2011, led by a substantial increase in guests from Korea, which has solidified its position as the country’s top tourism market. The Department of Tourism reported that some 2.6 million foreign tourists visited the country in the January-August period, up from just 2.33 million visitors a year ago.  Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez said this puts the country on track of achieving 6 million tourists by 2016.

US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. has conveyed his apology to Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario for his previous comment that 40 percent of male tourists visiting the Philippines do so for sex tourism, according to a report by Philippine Star. The American diplomat, who made his comment during a forum on human trafficking, caught the ire of some politicians who felt offended by a frank statement from a foreign dignitary.  Although sex trade is tolerated in night districts in Manila, Cebu, Davao and other major cities in the country, the government insists that prostitution is illegal here.

Despite the rainy season, the resort island of Boracay in Aklan province continues to attract guests.  The Aklan provincial government reported that some 628,243 foreign and domestic tourists arrived on the island in the first eight months of 2011, up by 12 percent from 561,405 visitors recorded in the same period last year.  In August alone, some 64,070 tourists visited Boracay, representing an increase of 10 percent from a year ago.

Subic Bay Freeport may allow the construction of a casino and shopping mall inside the Freeport by 2012 to strengthen the area’s appeal to tourists, according to a report by BusinessWorld.  Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) also wanted the Freeport to be included in the Asian Cruise Terminals Association’s (ACTA) list of destinations.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., two local units of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co., have established a new aviation company called Pacific Global One Aviation Inc. with an authorised capital stock of PhP430 million.

Domestic passenger air traffic in the Philippines climbed to 9.72 million in the first half of 2011 from 8.39 million in the same period last year.  The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said Cebu Pacific carried the most number of passengers at 4.25 million out of the 5.07 million seats allocated for the period. This represents an 84 percent load factor in the first half of the year.  Cebu Pacific’s passenger traffic was also higher than the 4.09 million it recorded in the same period last year.

Residents of Boracay Island and the province of Aklan have expressed their opposition to a plan of a company to establish a casino on the resort island.  The protesters, led by church groups, called on the government to reject any application to operate “all forms of casinos” on Boracay.  Before this, the local government of Malay town, which has jurisdiction over Boracay, has endorsed two applications for operating a casino and a “junket operation” in Boracay.  

AirPhil Express is building its operations hub at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga.  “We’re growing very fast and we certainly need more aircraft and [a]new hub. We are going to Clark not only for domestic flights but also for international flights,” said Mr. Brian Hogan, Airphil Express chief executive adviser.