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| Sunrise in Manila Bay |
If we were open to the public right now, I would still not be taken aback by the news "reported" by all the doomsayers pretending to be "journalists".
Why? Because 500 does not make up the tourism industry.
I believe that Hong Kong will eventually have to rescind its blacklisting of the Philippines:
1. Upon the guarantee that our nation can provide security and safety to our guests.
- By retraining the police force (We could ask the Hong Kong police force to retrain our SWAT personnel if they would like)
- By accepting our own (whole departments included) mistakes in the dilemma
- By drafting implementing guidelines concerning the protection and movement of tourists. (No hitchhiking cops on tourist buses please.)
2. After the natural passage of time, be it months or years - it will happen, just as the American economy will rebound, just as Japan recovered from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks and became an economic powerhouse, just as everything terrible in this world eventually changes. Like they said, "it's only a matter of time" - hopefully, it would be sooner.
3. By sheer necessity.
Who are your average tourists? In my own personal observation, these are usually Caucasian men from America, Europe and Australia that have Filipina wives who have family here. This segment is important because no amount of travel advisories will deter this particular demographic from going to the Philippines.
MORE SOLUTIONS
1. The best solution that one can think of, would simply point to ourselves. DOMESTIC TOURISM accounts for 16 Million Arrivals per year.
QUOTE
The understate secretary also declared to a reporter from The Pinoy News portal, that domestic tourism generates 16 million tourist arrivals per year. Combining both would then give a total of 19 million tourist arrivals per year.QUOTE
“In fact, domestic tourism offers the biggest hope for the country to keep not just the industry but the economy alive,” said Robert Lim Joseph, chairman emeritus of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas)."SOURCE: The Philippine Star
2. OFWs and Balikbayans
QUOTE
Filipino overseas workers could constitute a significant part of the booming domestic tourism that has been given a big boost by improved infrastructures in the Philippine countryside.SOURCE: Philippine Daily Inquirer
At the end of the day, yes we will be happy and thankful if those travel advisories will be adjusted as soon as possible. I am sure that the current administration is doing all that it can to ensure this.
Yet at the same time, I firmly believe that the Tourism Industry in the Philippines will remain strong because Kaya Natin to.
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| Sunrise in Boracay |
As much as some people would like to point out that We are the problem, by all means
We are also the Solution to our problems.
We are also the Solution to our problems.
very good article. very hopeful. the manila hostage crisis was indeed a huge brunt in our tourism industry but the realistic positivity in this post is a thumbs up.
ReplyDeletei wrote about the manila hostage crisis here:
http://www.myfilipinokitchen.com/the-philippines-bus-hostage-crisis/
and although domestic tourism can hold up the tourism sector, it would also be ideal if foreigners come to the philippines not because their wives are filipinas but because they are interested in the Philippines. Yes it's quite bleak as of the moment but hey you said it yourself. we are the solution to the problem.
Thanks for commenting ziggy.
ReplyDeleteI perfectly agree with you on the need for foreign tourists - not simply because of their spousal or familial relations.
But hey, we can survive this. Our economy does not depend on tourism alone.