Travel sector hopes Lim successor will continue improving industry

Following the resignation of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim, members of the Philippine travel sector on Thursday said they have high hopes his successor will continue where he left off in improving the industry. In a statement, the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) said they are grateful for Lim's contributions to the Department of Tourism. "Being saddled with this responsibility takes patience, organizational skills and leadership to ensure that it creates an effective plan in ensuring the success of tourism in the country. Part of this, Secretary Lim has already done. We just hope that it will be continued by his successor to the post," the group said. Stressing the need for "continuity" at the department, the association said its members are worried about Tourism secretaries staying in their post for an average of two years. "This is quite detrimental to the industry," the PTTA said. The group emphasized how the public seemed more concerned with marketing strategies than institutional reforms in the tourism industry. Last year, Lim drew flak over the DOT’s “Pilipinas, Kay Ganda" slogan, which critics slammed allegedly for being an almost exact copy of that from a Polish tourism campaign. "To industry stakeholders, this [marketing strategy] is merely the tail-end of an honest to goodness strategic plan... Plans have been made in the past but little of which were geared to have long-term impact," it said. Other problems beyond branding and marketing plague the tourism industry, the PTAA said. "First, there needs to be more effort to remove the downgrading of FAA [Federal Aviation Administration's ] and the European ban." The group also wants to lessen if not totally remove the "hurdles" in issuing visas to foreign nationals. "The government must [also] understand the impact of the double taxation of airlines as well as the charging of the CIQ (Customs, Immigrations, and Quarantine)," the PTAA added. — VS, GMA News