To achieve 2023 target of 5M tourist arrivals

TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco has sought the continued support of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) to achieve the government’s target of 5 million tourist arrivals in 2023, as the newly elected officers and trustees of the organization took their oath on Thursday at the New Coast Hotel Manila.

The tourism chief was the guest of honor and inducting officer at the induction ceremony of the national travel agencies’ association.

In her address, Frasco thanked the stakeholders from the private sector for their continued collaboration with the Department of Tourism (DOT), citing that their sacrifices and efforts even during the height of the unprecedented crisis and other natural calamities that have paralyzed the industry have been very helpful for its recovery.

“𝘋𝘢𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘢𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵 for the courage, tenacity, and perseverance that you have shown in these past few years that have been the most difficult for the tourism industry. Thank you to all of you for staying the course and for continuing to believe in the potential of Philippine tourism,” she said.

“We would not have been able to breach our tourism targets last year had it not been for your partnership and collaboration,” Frasco added.

Last year, the DOT has breached its target of 1.7 million tourist arrivals with 2.65 million visitors, of which 75 percent constitute international travelers. This translated to over P208 billion in visitor receipts, clearly a huge economic gain for the Philippines.

Frasco noted that the partners from the industry have been very instrumental in achieving such figures.

With the DOT pronouncing yet new ambitious goals this year, Frasco said: “We ask for your continued collaboration with the DOT as we view you to be our essential partners in ensuring that we continue the gains that we have already had and that the Philippines continues to recover at a much faster pace than originally expected.”

AUTHOR PROFILE

Cristina Lee-Pisco