Philippines as a Tourist Paradise

How do you mean exactly...

I agree here with Mark beyond the desires of our partners and friends we may have made, I can think of no good reason to regard the Phils as a holidaydestination perhaps with the exception of divers. With a lack of good quality budjet accomadation dubious cuisine and an attitude of your lucky to get anything lol dont get me wrong I found some exceptions but im curious and willing to do the legwork and spend 6 months exploring but Thailand apart from the "thais" is a much better option foods great everywhere good public transport and lots of competition in accomadation if your willing to minamaly research

Not sure I would visit the Philippines for the food.

I guess it depends. We are all different with differing interests. For each of us different things float each of our boats.

Though I wasn't really thinking of it from my personal point of view but from the point of view of benefit to the Philippines....same as Aquino.

I agree with Keith.. Stay away from Bohol and Panglao..The place is just a den of money making tourist scams..
The "fresh fish" costs 4 times more on Alona beach then it does in the public market and the price of a pair of flip flops in any beach shop is...I`m far to embarrassed to say..
Yes,,Please stay away and leave us locals in reletive peace!!
Go to Barbados instead!!
Much more civilised....and safe.

I gather the Philippines are targetting 6.8 million tourist arrivals in 2014 and 10 million by 2016...

I think it might be me John and my personal preference. A bit more "rustic" and hands-on are my most enjoyable memories of PI.

I think you're right we all have a different outlook of what makes a good/interesting holiday. Some like fine dining and nice accommodation, others like to explore with just a backpack and wherever the wind takes them. I think the others mentioned what I felt in Panglao too, just too touristy, too many foreigners

Yeah. I suppose I am attracted to many of the Philippines best assets. But that doesnt mean they are for everyone.

Very true, there are some great assets to the Philippines. I read the top worldwide destinations (think it was lonely planet last year) and the Philippines featured in the top 10 for a few categories. As I recall hospitality was the highest rated of all the filipino categories.

I can't find the article but here's an interesting one, it directly compares Thailand to Phils (admittedly 2011) .... Incidentally they have included an advisory for no. 10!!!

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/philippines/travel-tips-and-articles/76216

The original article I was referring (which I can't find) had a breakdown of the categories and ratings.

So, like all the male members of this Forum, you are attracted by Philippine women. Nothing wrong in that and a perfectly valid reason for wishing to come here on holiday. But for those who are already married, why would they come here?

Well, I guess you prove the point.

Visitor Arrivals Reached the 3-Million Mark in August 2013

"Visitor Arrivals for the month of August continued to yield optimistic results as it grew by 11.28% from 2,858,348 last year to 3,180,903 this year. This figure represented 57.83% of the targeted arrivals for 2013. The 3.18 million arrivals marked another milestone as it is the first time that visitor arrivals achieved the three million figure in August. Last year, the country received the three millionth visitor in September while in 2011, it reached the 3 million arrivals in October. It was noted that the first three million arrivals was recorded in December 2007.

The Korean market continue to be the top contributor of international tourist arrivals with 822,128 visitors (+21.06%), proving to be a strong source of international tourist movement up until the end of the year.

Despite posting the least fraction of visitor arrival growth among the top five markets, the USA (+2.49%) still remained as the 2nd biggest source of arrivals for the country with 457,819 visitors, comprising 14.39% of the entire inbound traffic while Japan, with 293,445 visitors and 9.23% of the inbound total, regained its place as the 3rd biggest source of arrivals, moving China down to 4th with 288,826 visitors, or 9.08% of the total visitor volume. The Chinese market, however, recorded the highest increase in tourist arrivals among the top five markets with a 60.57% growth from last year and posted a 206.43% growth in August alone. The 5th biggest volume of arrivals is supplied by Australia with 131,977 arrivals and a share of 4.15% to the total. This market recorded a double-digit growth (+15.11%) vis-à-vis its arrivals of 118,050 for the same period last year.


Rounding up the top ten visitor markets are Singapore with 114,018 arrivals, Taiwan with 103,306 arrivals, Hong Kong with 86,396 arrivals, Canada with 84,353 arrivals and United Kingdom with 80,121 arrivals.

On the other hand, the following markets recorded significant gains: Saudi Arabia (+35.12%) with 27,094 arrivals, Russian Federation (+32.53%) with 21,736 arrivals, Indonesia (+28.63%) with 30,319 arrivals, France (+18.45%) with 27,380 arrivals, Thailand (+17.85%) with 31,638 arrivals, and India (+15.01) with 35,173 arrivals. "

http://www.tourism.gov.ph/Pages/IndustryPerformance.aspx

Philippine tourist arrivals target a hard task—industry officials

"The Philippines will have a tough time getting 10 million tourists each year by 2016 amid bad roads and unexpected setbacks, industry officials said Tuesday.
To reach the ambitious target, double the five million visitors expected this year, arrivals would have to grow by 26 percent per year from 2014, former tourism secretary Narzalina Lim said at an annual Philippine business conference.
The country only managed a growth in arrivals of about 11 percent yearly since 2010, and is now about 16 percent behind its full-year 2013 target, said Lim.
Domingo Enerio, chief executive of the government’s Tourism Promotions Board, agreed his task was a tough one, but added: “We still sincerely believe that we can do it.”

The government hopes tourism will create seven million jobs and contribute 12 percent of economic output.
The industry now accounts for three million workers and seven percent of economic output, Lim said, citing government data.
Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association, outlined the challenges.
“We still have to address the road congestion, or the lack of reliable transportation… in most out-of-town destinations,” he told the forum.
“Security and safety need to be improved… There are so many things that need to be done,” he said."

http://business.inquirer.net/148757...rrivals-target-a-hard-task-industry-officials

You guessed wrong!

I should have said that your post proves the point.

Those will all be "Section 9" arrivals which, in addition to tourists, includes short-stay business as well as visas granted to those attending language schools - which will account for most of the Korean and many of the Japanese arrivals. However Koreans don't actually contribute much to the economy here - as do Americans, Australians or Europeans - as they prefer to patronise Korean-owned hotels, bars and restaurants.

Just over 100,000 arrivals from Europe is chicken-feed compared to those who visited other more developed Asian countries.

Whilst the Philippines may not be a popular tourist destination, it may well become a retirement centre and especially for the American market. With health care costs constantly rising in the US and the removal of state contributions towards palliative care for the elderly and those suffering from diseases such as Alzheimers, American families are increasingly finding it hard to afford decent care for their elderly parents and grandparents. The Philippine Retirement Authority and the Department of Tourism have been involved in a series of talks with interested commercial, mostly foreign, partners to establish a series of retirement villages, one of which is likely to be centred on the George Dewey Hospital in Subic and others scattered throughout central Luzon. These villages will offer one-on-one care drawing on the huge pool of unemployed - and under-employed - registered nurses who will receive a much higher salary than they could hope for elsewhere in the country. But, as always, there are a number of bureaucratic sticking points such as the cost and conditions of special retiree visas not to mention the positive disincentives for foreign stake-holders who wish to invest in this industry.

or in three words "cheap dumping ground"

It won't be that cheap. I'm told that retirees who don't need constant care will be charged around $1000 a month and this will rise to between $1500 and $2000 for those who do - excluding visa costs. I'm not sure if those figures include "consumables" such as electricity or cable/satellite TV; I suspect not.