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Thursday, December 30, 2004
10 tourism groups hail Naia 3 takeover: DOT
TEN of the tourism industry’s biggest associations announced their full support for Malacañang’s move to take over the operations of the disputed $650-million Ninoy Aquino International Airport III from the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) consortium.
In a letter to President Gloria Arroyo, the private sector associations said they hailed the government’s strong political will evidenced by the takeover of the new multimillion-dollar airport facility.
The letter was signed by the heads of the industry’s biggest stakeholders led by the Federation of Tourism Industries of the Philippines, Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines, Philippine Travel Agencies Association, The Philippine Hotel Federation, Philippine Association of Convention Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers, Hotel Sales and Marketing Association, Philippine Tour Operators Association, Association of Car Rental Companies Inc., Freedom to Fly Coalition, and the Manila Japanese Travel Agents and Hoteliers Association.
The Arroyo government last week announced the expropriation of the Naia Terminal 3, ordering the completion of the unfinished work so that the terminal may begin operations in six months.
Major player
According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), the leaders of the tourism associations were convinced that Malacañang’s takeover of the Naia 3 complex protects the country’s national interest, as well as boosts the government and private sector’s efforts to transform the Philippines into a major player in the global tourism market in the Asia-Pacific.
They also considered the development timely “in view of the continued increase in international tourist arrivals,” a statement from the DOT read.
DOT records show that as of October this year, tourist arrivals to the Philippines already reached 1.861 million, up by 24.3 percent from the year-ago figure.
Based on the DOT’s projections, tourist numbers this year could reach 2.3 million, breaking the all-time record of 2.2 million set in 1997.
Ready
Tourism stakeholders said the new terminal will greatly enhance the country’s image as a tourist destination, sending a strong signal that the country is more than ready to accommodate more tourists in the coming years.
Tourist arrivals in the next five years, or until 2010, are projected to grow by an average of 14.29 percent a year, or way beyond the existing capacity of the country’s premier airport.
In fact, with this projection on visitor arrivals, the existing airport capacity would be hard put to accommodate travelers to the Philippines even as early 2007, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said.
Imperative
“It is imperative that our premier airport will have the space for the expected surge in visitor arrivals in the years ahead, given government’s drive to lure more tourists to our shores and generate additional foreign exchange revenues for the economy,” Durano said.
He explained that based on official data, 86.58 percent or 1.65 million of the 1.86-million visitors in the first 10 months of this year entered the Philippines through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 1 and 2 in Manila.
The rest, or 12 percent of the tourists during the period, arrived in the country via the airports in Cebu (9.27 percent), Laoag (1.61 percent), Subic (0.79 percent), Davao (0.23 percent), Clark (0.09 percent) and General Santos City (0.01 percent).
To upgrade the tourist services in the country, the DOT and Globe Handy-phone have partnered in a program called “Meet and Assist.”
Under the program, the DOT will provide efficient port entry officers who can communicate properly with non-English speakers at the airport. This will involve Chinese, Japanese and Korean speaking interpreters.
The Meet and Assist program was designed primarily to break the barriers of communication so that foreign tourists will feel more relaxed on their arrival in the country.
The program will be replicated in the Centennial Airport (Naia 2) and the Mactan- Cebu International Airport after the initial run at the Naia 1.
The interpreters are to stay at the information booth. They will not be allowed to approach passengers, carry their luggage or accompany them without prior endorsement from the Bureau of Immigration.
(December 30, 2004 issue)
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