Tourism chief: Travel warnings fail to dampen PHL tourism

The travel warnings the US and five other Western allies issued to their nationals visiting the Philippines have not diminished tourist arrivals, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said Friday. "Despite the travel advisories, I can tell you the [tourism] numbers are up," Lim said on dwIZ radio. Bureau of Immigration data showed tourist arrivals in the Philippines rose year-on-year by 17 percent to 2,562,505 as of Nov. 8, from 2,190,114 in the same period last year. In late October, the US, Britain, Australia, France, Canada, and New Zealand issued travel advisories warning their nationals in the Philippines of possible terror attacks in Manila and some parts of Mindanao, where Muslim rebels and al-Qaeda militants are operating. Lim however chided the Philippine media for playing up the travel warnings. "The same advisories were directed at Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, but their media there did not play them up. Here, we allow ourselves to be affected because the media is playing those advisories up," he said in Filipino. Meanwhile, Lim rejected suggestions to offer discounted tourism package deals because of the advisories. Instead, tourism-related industries can offer value-added services to their packages, he said. "You don't have to bring your prices down. You can give a package of extras but you must maintain your basic rate," Lim said. The Department of Tourism (DOT) has changed its tourism slogan to attract more foreign visitors to the country, which is still recovering from the impact of perceptions hinting the Philippines is a dangerous place for tourists. DOT spokesman Benito Bengzon Jr. had said the agency is "still on track" to achieving its revenue target of $2.48 billion in 2010. — with Jesse Edep/LBG, GMANews.TV