Philippines has been developing tourism ads featuring the natural beauty of the country since its a major economic driver, which helps the country become more ripe to establish the Philippines as the world’s next tourism destination.
The Department of Tourism said that the country’s tourism rate has been profitable, and accounted for an estimated US$5.0 billion or P227.62 billion worth of international visitor receipts in 2015 which would be 5.92% greater than the 2014 total earnings. December 2015 yields as the peak of all tourism activities at P23.47 billion and the month of September 2015 registering the highest growth of 24.24%..
Korea continued to be the top spending market with visitors amounting to P66.55 billion for the year 2015. United States ranks as the second with P42.31 billion, followed by Australia (P12.83 billion), overtaking Japan (P12.20 billion), with China completing the top-five-foreign-visitors of the country (P10.19 billion).
For the year 2015, tourists spend an average of P4,888.82. They also spent heavily last year, with an average per capita expenditure of P48,350.44. Their average length of stay in the country is registered at around 10 nights.
“The strong performance of the industry may be attributed to the aggressive branding and promotional activities launched in key and emerging markets such as the Visit the Philippines Year (VPY) campaign in 2015,” Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr. said. “At the rate that the industry is growing, tourism has proven that it is an important pillar in the country’s economic growth.”
The Department of Tourism, launched the Visit the Philippines Again (VPA) 2016 campaign to drive urgency and excitement among foreign travelers to visit the Philippines and return for more fun, friendship, feel-good adventures, and fabulous memories to cherish in 2016. This is to further boost the growth of local tourism, through this marketing arm Tourism Promotions Board (TPB).
Travelers will be treated to many new and exciting attractions and spectacular destinations that showcases the beauty of what Philippines has to offer. Visitors will also be given exclusive travel deals and special incentives. They can avail of special discounts on flights, hotel accommodations and tour packages after simply presenting proof of previous visits.
With this tourism campaign, TBP renewed its partnership with Globe Telecom hence, aside from the previously mentioned privileges and perks, tourists and returning OFWs can also enjoy worry-free connectivity during their stay in the country. The telco is once again offering its Globe Traveler SIM to millions of tourists and returning OFWs for free. This SIM is a local prepaid SIM card that offers affordable local rates for mobile data, SMS services and Calls.
Users can also receive calls and texts from abroad for free and cut costs on mobile data by subscribing to TravelSurf, which allows them to use the Internet on mobile for a very affordable rate of US$11 for seven (7) days or US$23 for 30 days. Users can also call abroad for as low as US$0.40 per minute.
“We are privileged to once again partner with the TPB to help boost the travel experience with affordable call, text and data services, enabling them to stay in touch as well as share the beauty of the Philippines to the rest of the world through social media. With Globe, we ensure that even travelers get to live and embrace their digital lifestyle as their connectivity partner while in the country,” said Nikko Acosta, Senior Vice President for International Business Group at Globe.
Another innovation from Globe was that recently launched ‘Relive Wonderful Philippines’ a video contest where international visitors (Non-Philippine residents and OFWs) can submit a video showcasing why they love the Philippines and what they want to do in the country again, which started last March 15. The winner of the best video will win a ticket to fly back to the Philippines with a companion to their destination of choice complete with hotel accommodation and allowance from Globe.
