Restored Manila-Taiwan air link lauded

Secretary Gemma Cruz-Araneta of the Department of Tourism (DOT) yesterday

expressed elation and gratitude over the decision of President Estrada to

restore air link between Taiwan and the Philippines.

The tourism chief said that she is now upbeat about the possibility of hitting the

tourist arrivals target of 2 million for this year, or at least mitigate the losses due to

the decline in arrivals from Taiwan by the year’s end.

In an overseas telephone interview from Nagoya, Japan, Araneta said she hopes that

the November and December arrivals from Taiwan would make up for lost tourists from

Taiwan when the air link between the two countries was canceled on Oct. 1, 1999.

The DOT secretary is now leading a tourism sales mission in the Japanese cities of

Fukuoka, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo until Oct. 5.

Organized in cooperation with the private sector of the country’s tourism industry

comprising of the hotels, resorts, Philippine Airlines and major tour operators, the

Japan sales mission is to follow up and strengthen the gains made in the Japanese

outbound travel market during the state visit of President Estrada in June 1999, Sec.

Araneta disclosed.

She said the Philippine image in Japan as a tourist destination still remains generally

attractive, that the country is safe, pleasant and peaceful.

Prior to the cancellation of direct flights between Taipei and Manila, Taiwan ranked as

the Philippines’ fourth largest tourist source market with about 200,000 annual tourist

arrivals – after the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

According to DOT figures, tourist arrivals in the country for January – June this year

suffered a 1.4 percent decline, reaching only 1,063,256.

Last year’s volume for the same period was 1,078547. Various associations in the

country’s travel and tourism industry led by the Network of Independent Travel

Agencies (NITAS) and major tour operators in Manila, Cebu and Davao had blamed the

issue of the country’s accessibility to tourist markets as the major factor in the

decline of tourist arrivals this year. They all cited the canceled air link between

Taiwan and the Philippines as the leading reason.

“I am very happy and excited over President Estrada’s decision restoring direct flights

between Taiwan and the Philippines,” Sec. Araneta said over the telephone.

The tourism chief left the country Sept. 23 to lead another sales mission with the

private sector to promote the country to members of the American Society of Travel

Agents who held their 70th Annual World Travel Congress in Las Vegas, Nevada, last

Sept. 24 – 28. She came back Oct. 1 then flew to Nagoya, Japan Oct. 2 to lead the

sales mission in Japan.

Araneta is expected to arrive today from Tokyo. Upon arrival, she will immediately

connect a domestic flight for Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte in time to open the

5th Siargao International Surfing Competition slated on Oct. 6 – 8 organized by the

DOT in cooperation with the Association of Surfing Professionals-Australasia (ASPA)

and the provincial, municipal and local governments of Surigao del Norte.

“I cannot miss the Siargao surfing event. We’ve been working on this since our

Australia sales mission early this year,” Sec. Araneta explained. “This year’s

competition is a special event of ASPA and a prelude to the inclusion of the Siargao

competition in the 2001 World Qualifying Surfing series.”

She said the Siargao surfing competition will be showcased to the international surfing

community to prepare participants for next year’s bigger competition.

Early this year during the DOT’s sales mission to the Australia outbound market, Roy

Norris, ASPA’s marketing and promotion manager, committed to Sec. Araneta a

30-minute daily telecast of the Siargao event in Australia for one week.

Sec. Araneta explained that the daily week-long media exposure of the surfing

competition would greatly help in increasing tourist arrivals from Australia.