Foreign tourism arrivals achieves back-to-back record growth

International visitors to the Philippines for the first two months of the year closed at another record high of 854,187 or a double-digit growth of 10.5% from 772,989 of the same period in 2012. The country extended its record-breaking run by surpassing the 400,000 arrival mark for both January (436,079 arrivals) and February, making it three months in a row since December 2012 with 442,088 arrivals – an uptrend that is expected to continue until the summer months.

Visitor arrivals for February 2013 soared 15.52% with 418,108 arrivals, marking the first time that this month achieved more than 400,000 visitors. The Chinese New Year stimulated the growth during the month, with Hong Kong posting a 93.80% growth rate, China registering 69.87%, Macau at 44.05%, and Taiwan at 20.67%. Countries from the ASEAN region likewise registered double-digit gains.

For the period January to February 2013, Korea remained the top contributor with 241,116 visitors, growing by 25.6% and cornering slightly more than a quarter of the total inbound traffic. The second largest yield came from the United States with 120,868 or 14.2% of the visitor count. Arrivals from Japan comprised the third biggest arrivals of 73,621 visitors. The list is followed by China with 69,610; Taiwan with 37,921; Australia with 34,095; Singapore with 25,800; Canada with 25,338; Hongkong with 23,097; Malaysia with 18,947; United Kingdom with 18,563; and Germany with 13,774.

Double-digit gains were also experienced in significant source markets such as India (24.99%), Russian Federation (23.97%), Malaysia (23.42%), Hongkong (18.92%), Singapore (14.47%), and Australia (11.43%) from January to February 2013. By regional grouping, the ASEAN market posted an 18.5% overall growth with the East Asian region recording a 14.57% increase.
“Our tourism numbers are now reaching unprecedented heights. We have a target of 5.5 million this year and 10 million by 2016. Our efforts are in full swing to raise greater demand, facilitate entry and access to the different destinations, and for our suppliers and host communities to come together and create fun-filled experiences. We need to seize this momentum of rising global attention to reach more markets and bring about conversion,” said Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.

“At the same time, front-loading infrastructure projects should address connectivity and multi-modal access. Market development will also work to punch deeper into the segments of traditional markets while creating interest in high-potential emerging markets,” the tourism chief added.

With the recent lifting of the Significant Safety Concerns (SSCs) by the United Nations – International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Philippines can look forward to regaining Category I status from the US Federal Aviation Administration and the subsequent lifting of the European Union (EU) ban. The rationalization of the Common Carriers Tax (RA 10376), which was signed into law by President Benigno S. Aquino III earlier this month, is also seen to aid in improving and enhancing the country’s competitiveness in the international travel arena.

“With these two major milestones, we shall see greater traffic to and from more destinations, stimulating more business for both foreign and local carriers. With the upward trend in visitor arrivals and recent surge in real estate development, airline companies will begin to see the viability to fill our capacities and make the Philippines a part of their primary route offering. It will be an interesting four years in the run up to our 2016 goal,” Secretary Jimenez added.

Source:-
http://goodnewspilipinas.com/2013/0...arrivals-achieves-back-to-back-record-growth/

It would be tactless and tasteless to point out that according to the US Embassy one third of tourist arrivals are sex tourists...

...but it would also be almost certainly true...

"Tourists" will also include Filipi nos naturalised overseas and carrying foreign passports. However, yes, there is an enormous sex-tourism industry.

It's "all". Yes, huge numbers of sex tourists from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and, increasingly, China.

Sex tourism is really unwelcomed by the majority of Filipinos and may account for the recent increase in HIV/Aids cases reported recently. However I am not convinced that many Koreans who come here are of that ilk. Koreans are the least popular of all visitors and not only because of their superior attitude and rudeness towards their hosts but also because they tend to only frequent Korean-owned businesses and patronise Korean-owned resorts and hotels from which they rarely stray. There's a new huge resort complex on Mactan which opened last year, it's only open to Koreans, serves Korean food exclusively and the entertainment is all Korean. The only bit of the Philippines its visitors see is during the short bus journey between the island's airport and the resort.

It does appear that the majority of sex tourists are from the US, parts of Europe (notably Scandinavia and Germany) and Australia but few come from the UK. My sources tell me that 9 out of 10 foreigners in Angeles are there purely for sex and almost all the bars on Fields Avenue are foreigner-owned (the same is also true for those on Mango Avenue in Cebu, incidentally). The PNP only raid the bars if the owner is behind in paying "protection".

You can be sure that the US State Department is monitoring sex tourism and any rise will lead to additional pressure being placed on the Philippine Government to tackle the issue.

The big problem is that the Philippines isn't geared-up to cater for family holidays. There's a shortage of quality resorts and most of the really nice beaches are only accessible with difficulty and the very best are often on private islands and accessibly only by boat. But none would qualify for a "Blue Flag" and I would be very reluctant to allow my son to bathe in the sea from any beach.

Interesting comment.

I kind of thought that the typhoon season would flush the waters through the islands each year?

Remember typhoons wash all sorts of filth down the rivers and into the sea.

I see. I wasn't aware that all of the islands had such a problem with their beaches. It takes the shine off somewhat. Another box to tick on my checklist.

I am going to cautiously differ with Markham; I think Asian sex tourism is much bigger than European, American and Australasian sex tourism. The commercial sex business in the Philippines is huge - far bigger than we think.

Last year Kay invited the parents of Kieran's class mates round for a party and the topic came round to "how do you two trust each other when you live so far apart?" Kay said she certainly trusts me and she would be quite happy for the men present to take me off with them to their favourite local girlie bar. The "dare" was accepted, but I said I preferred it if Kay came with me so she and another mother were added to the party and a few nights later off we went - I then realised that one passes a low-ish profile "KTV-Disco" sign pretty regularly everywhere in the Philippines and they are all commercial sex joints catering to Filipino men. We all had fun, Kay and Eden tucking fifty peso bills into the dancers' garter belts and telling the girls whom we "tabled" increasingly outrageous lies, but I did notice how busy the place was - on a weekday evening.

In Subic, where the biggest employer is now the Hanjin shipyard, there is now an entire array of KTV joints catering to Koreans, and actively discouraging other foreigners. My friend Robert and I got ourselves pink tickets* and explored a few in a spirit of enquiry - he speaks some Korean - and these places are ritzier than the regular "westerners" girlie bars.

I think we notice the western-type girlie bars in Fields Avenue in Clark, Mango Avenue in Cebu and P Burgos Street in Makati which are aimed at Causasians, but we fail to spot the others - a whole length of Roxas Boulevard for instance is occupied with "night clubs" catering solely to Asians, be they Japanese, Korean or Chinese, where we would not be welcome.

The sex trade in China is absolutely vast - the sex trade in the city of Dongguan alone is estimated to employ between 500,000 and 800,000 people...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongguan

... and I don't expect that the Japanese Koreans Taiwanese Malays etc are any different. There's a Chinese saying that "you haven't travelled unless you have tried a local girl"...

* pink ticket - Hong Kong expression for permission from one's wife/girlfriend to spend a night out with the lads.

I believe I am correct in saying that there are only two effluent treatment plants in the country, one at Clark Air Force Base and the other at Subic Bay and only the latter is operational. Need I say more?!!

Cautious?! Be bold!

Actually as far as the Philippine sex trade is concerned, Filipinos are the major users and abusers, far more so than any other nationality. I've known of cases where young girls of 17 and 18 have been sold to rich Chinese as mistresses who then end-up living in some seedy little flat in Beijing. It's almost expected that rich Filipino men will have two or three mistresses "on the go" at any one time, replacing them with younger models as they catch their eye -- Michel Lhuillier reportedly has twelve such young and very attractive women as "arm dressing" in addition to his long-suffering wife. His girlfriends do live in comparative luxury though often in multi-million Peso homes.

I am reminded of a comment by my ex-wife's maiden aunt (a woman whom I have a lot of time for) to the effect that the reason Filipino cops are always corrupt is that being a policeman is a "macho" occupation, so every cop has to maintain a mistress or two as well as his wife, but a cop's pay won't run to two or three families so he has to be "on the take"!

Both built by Americans?

Am gobsmacked.

Both built by US Army Corps Engineers when the bases were established. But such plants need constant care and attention to keep them running efficiently ...

I take it you've not been sat in a window seat as you've flown over this country and noticed the brown "fan" where river estuaries meet the sea. That's not mud that's been washed down from the mountains!

Well, thats what happens where river estuaries meet the sea. Just because it is brown doesn't mean it's bad. So no. But I take your word on the content.

We must be talking aloovial and not alluvial.

I have to endorse this opinion simply because its pretty dumb not to notice it in every day life here..
I could go on but what would be the point?
Im pretty sure the same goes on in the UK but its just more secretive there...In a cultural way which goes back to the dark ages probably.
Filipino`s can tolerate such Hypocrisy as they can be forgiven during a once a week confession perhaps?

It's worth keeping in mind that around thirty per cent of Filipino households are really desperately poor, in the sense of not always knowing where the next meal is coming from.

Life as a kept mistress of a rich man is seen as very desirable - marriage to a rich man is out of the question anywhere outside the endless Cinderella stories in the telenovelas, but becoming a mistress is a believeable ambition. A girl who suceeds in becoming a mistress will be able to help her family, who will suceed in convincing themselves that she is having a wonderful time (forgetting that she will be terrified that her status can be terminated on a whim!) and is happy to help them.

Even life as a bar girl can be "justified" by the girl on the grounds that she is "sacrificing herself" (always a popular notion with Filipinas!) to help her parents and siblings and the parents and siblings who depend on the bar girl's earnings will find it rather easy to convince themselves that "she doesn't actually sleep with customers", she, unlike every other bar girl in the land, is just a dancer or a GRO and never sleeps with men for money.

Families who can get by without recourse to the "immoral earnings" of pretty daughters will go to great lengths to preserve their respectability.

Britain used to be very similar.

Yes, there are a lot of similarities between Britain in the past and the Philippines now.