Philippines as a Tourist Paradise

With respect, as someone who once ran a cruise ship, there is a difference between RTW ships and others. If a ship is doing a round the world cruise, it is indeed worthwhile to call in at a port in the Philippines, and these are the ships that call.

But the vast majority of cruise ships are doing 14 day, 7 day or 3 day cruises; for these ships, the Philippines is not attractive as a destination.

Since when is reporting fact a bad thing?

My learned friend has fairly comprehensively answered that point:

Fact is that there are very few round-the-world voyages these days and very few places in the Philippines can handle the new super-liners such as P&O's newest Princesses. Apart from Manila and Subic - the only ports that have any tugs at all and a suitable wharf at which to berth - there is nowhere for them to go. They can anchor off Boracay but there's no Immigration or Customs there - and not much to do ashore either even if there were.

And remember, for six months of the year there is a real risk of typhoons and lesser tropical depressions. Passengers won't thank you for that experience!

I don't know if P&O is still doing them but there used to be 21 day "Cherry Blossom" cruises from Sydney to Japan each spring which cruised through the Philippine Archipelago but didn't stop.

You were reporting fact but in a denigrating light. For someone that purports to want to talk the Philippines up, you seem to have a negative outlook on it. More tourism, in a well managed way, could be a good further source of income for the Philippines. Why talk it down so?

I did spot that.

Whoever said that ships ought to be whizzing around the Philippines in typhoon season. Not I. I was the one that said best not live in the Philippines because of the typhoon season, remember? But you claim its okay. You seem to want it both ways!

All very negative. You don't need to get the ship into port to get the tourists off the boat. On customs and immigration, hardly a big hurdle.

You can not apply western thinking and logic to Asian issues - and Philippine ones in particular. I don't view the country through rose-coloured spectacles but that is in no way being negative. But sometimes the truth is less than palatable.

Which is a completely erroneous generalisation. There are parts of the Philippines that are unaffected by typhoons, one of which is Davao City where I live. However cruise ships generally avoid this part of the Pacific during the "season". The cruise ships that do call here all do so during the first 3 or 4 months of the year and those same ships are more usefully employed elsewhere for the remainder of the year.

You can certainly use the ship's launches of which there will be no more than about six. That's a very time-consuming operation and unless the location is a "must see" place, there won't be many takers. The majority of passengers prefer to walk up and down covered gangways that join an air-conditioned ship with an air-conditioned terminal such as that at Hong Kong. And without clearances from Customs, Immigration and Port Health, passengers can not leave the ship in any event. Oh and not forgetting the currency issue.

The truth is that the Philippines is attracting tourists but they arrive from China and Korea on aeroplanes, not cruise ships. Within the next five years, a huge new Casino complex will be built on reclaimed land at Manila Bay - the Boardwalk will disappear. That complex is specifically designed for Chinese, Japanese and Korean clientele.

There is a bit of luck involved there. Pablo and its associated devastation came very close. The earth's weather knows no status quo. Change is the most assured pattern.

I am not an expert in meteorology so I listen to the local experts at Pagasa who repeatedly assure us that Davao is and will remain typhoon-free. For Davao City to be hit by a typhoon, two things need to happen:

1. The South West Monsoon must be very weak or disappear completely
2. The mountain ranges that encircle the city must disappear.

Admittedly Pablo did occur at the end of the SW Monsoon season (and by definition, the typhoon season), however the eye was some 100 km to the north east when it made landfall and its track was the usual north westerly. No luck involved, just physics.

Yes Jim, that's the one.

Cruise ship arrivals in Boracay until 2014

"The management of the Wallem Philippines Shipping Inc. has confirmed the arrivals of the Star Cruises to this resort-island from October this year to April next year.

Niven Maquirang, Caticlan jetty port administrator, said Wednesday that Wallen Philippines is the official agent of Star Cruises in the country.

He said Star Cruises vessel MS Superstar Gemini is expected to arrive here at around 6 a.m. on October 17 and will return to its route by 3 p.m. of the same day.

Another vessel, the MS Superstar Aquarius, will arrive on November 4 at 10 a.m. and will leave the port of Boracay at around 8 p.m.

Superstar Aquarius is expected to return to Boracay on April 1, 2014 as confirmed by Wallem Philippines.

All Star Cruises arrivals has a route coming from Xiamen, China to Manila and then this resort island.

Recently, personnel of the Star Cruises based visited Boracay to check its facilities."

http://boracayislandupdate.blogspot.com/2013_07_01_archive.html

At least one person agrees with my positive thinking on this topic. An old article but nonetheless not out of date:


"The future of Philippine ecotourism looks bright in part because of a tourist experience that may be likened to going back in time, President Benigno Aquino III said on Saturday night.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature, Mr. Aquino said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) are working together to promote other ecotourism sites.


“Not long ago, I had the chance to explore the Puerto Princesa Underground River myself. It was an amazing experience. Journeying down a river that winds through a subterranean cave system is like traveling back in time,” he said in a speech at the Esplanade in Pasay City.

Open invitation
“With walls and caverns that have been shaped by the elements and extraordinary formations of stalactites and stalagmites, the underground river is a true example of the artistry of nature, when it is preserved and cared for by man,” he added.

Mr. Aquino said more than 235,000 tourists in 2011 saw the beauty and majesty of the underground river.

“Words alone cannot do justice to the underground river—one must experience it firsthand to be able to understand exactly why it is one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. So consider this as an open invitation to everyone to visit the PPUR,” he said.


“And we are hoping that even more of you will arrive, so you can see for yourselves what millions of people around the world voted for, and ultimately realize that, yes, it is more fun in the Philippines,” he added.

The President said the choice of the PPUR as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature “reminds us of how truly blessed our country is and of how it is our task as Filipinos not to take these blessings for granted. We have to act as responsible stewards.”

“And this means valuing our natural resources, and ensuring the environmental sustainability of all our development efforts,” he said.

Tourism has long been a “low-lying fruit” for the economy as it directly creates opportunities for Filipinos and has an immediate effect on our economy, Mr. Aquino said.

“I am told that for each tourist that sets foot on our shores, one new job is created. Tourist will have travel agents fixing their itineraries, tour guides who will show them around and merchants who will, hopefully, be able to sell them our locally made delicacies and handicrafts,” he said.

So, at the end of the day, the success of the PPUR redounds to the success not just of those from Puerto Princesa, but also of all our countrymen across the nation,” he added."




http://www.karstworlds.com/2012/04/philippine-ecotourism-looks-bright.html

Certainly the underground river is said to be spectacular and it is on my to-visit list but unless you're combining it with a stay at a resort on, say, Coron, it is a long way to go and ranging from quite to very expensive when you get there.

Palawan's future growth isn't likely to be in tourism but as the Aberdeen of the Philippines.

With a little care and forethought it is possible to do both.

Ah well, there's the rub. Providing Palawan's local politicians don't scare-off any more oil and gas exploration companies as they have done in the quite recent past, Palawanos will discover that there's far more money to be made from that industry than from tourism. Many of the resorts up there will seek to attract highly-paid offshore workers for spells of R&R who will be able to easily afford the much higher prices they will undoubtedly charge. Just as Fields Avenue and Barrio Barretto catered for the needs of those serving at the US bases in Clark and Subic, a similar "red light" district will establish itself in PP City and ladies of negotiable affection will make themselves available for stays at those resorts as well as satisfying more immediate, short-term needs.

The Philippines is not a "must visit" destination for the bulk of European, Australian or even American holiday-makers: the Caribbean, Malaysia and Thailand have far more to offer those who are prepared to take - and can afford - long-haul holidays. However the Philippines is well-placed to cater for the millions of upwardly-mobile Chinese but they're not interested in sight-seeing - unless the "sight" is a growing stack of chips before them at a casino.

Be honest, John, if you didn't have family reasons, would you have come here for a holiday?

It is a case of managing it all properly. It can be done and has been done. I do take your point about oil industry inflated prices though.

The Philippines, as things stand, have a million reasons why many people might want to go there for a holiday. But as some have said, some things would need to change to persuade a percentage of those to go there.

I gather that Bohol has a thriving tourism industry.

Also, I am just reading up on all the caves in Davao and the Samal Fruit Bats!

A bold claim indeed! Name me ten reasons why Mr & Mrs Average and their two young kids from (say) Cambridge would choose to holiday in the Philippines rather than (say) Malaysia; the airfares alone would be a major disincentive.

Even Malaysia, which has far more going for it as a tourist destination, is a tough sell for European holiday-makers as Tony Fernandes found out to his cost. His AirAsiaX airline had direct flights to Kuala Lumpur from Stanstead for around $600 roundtrip but he withdrew the service after some 18 months due to lack of demand: most of the flights were less than half-full and didn't cover the fuel costs.

Panglao Island - attached to the southern tip of Bohol by a causeway - certainly does have a thriving tourism industry but most of its guests are actually Filipino. The same is also true of Boracay, incidentally. Bohol itself was a day-trip destination but the recent earthquake will have had a devastating effect on that and it take a year or two to recover.

Ah yes, the Monfort Bat Caves ...

There's also the immediate implications too. Thankfully this happens infrequently. Japanese weren't bothered by the calamity but seems Koreans are. From what I've seen the Koreans seem to be quite cautious.

http://cebudailynews.ph/news/story/21403/calamity-forces-hotel-booking-cancellations

I personally would love filipinos to be able to capitalise more on what they have but I don't see that in the immediate future.

Personally speaking I really didn't like Panglao as much as other places I've visited, for me, it was commercialised (I know that sounds kinda weird) but it sort of detracted from the simplistic beauty PI I guess to capitalise on what they have, they need to cater for the majorities needs.