Year’s report brings hope to RP tourism

THE excitement that the Department of Tourism would want to touch off among the people over cheap travels to the country's scenic spots is an earnest attempt to divert public conscientiousness to more auspicious expectations.

That is a timely form of encouragement amid optimistic forecast for the incoming year.

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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in a report to the nation the other day, cited strong economic fundamentals for the country's ability to withstand the shocks brought about by external and internal occurrences.

Without strong fundamentals, the economy would have collapsed under the pressures of recent events, she said.

The President must be referring to the succession of hostilities in the south, the endless political maneuverings, the weakening of the world economy, and then the 9-11 devastating terror attacks in the US.

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The fact is that, despite all these, the domestic economy has been able to resist their negative effects.

The Tourism Department sees this as a good indication for the industry, and is taking advantage of the two consecutive long weekends to drum up support to its "Wow Philippines" weekend packages.

President Arroyo herself is excited over the idea, she directed Secretary Dick Gordon the other day to allocate more funds for tourism promotions.

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But what really buoyed up the President's desire to spearhead the tourism program is its prospects of making available some five million jobs and the generation of about $5 billion in revenues.

The firm McKinze and Associates at a meeting with the Arroyo Cabinet, has claimed that, properly developed, Philippine tourism could set in motion such fortune and wealth.