More direct int’l flights to regions pushed
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-frasco has batted for more direct international flights into the country’s regional airports to address logistical issues of an archipelagic country and to be able to compete with landlocked countries that offer better connectivity for tourists.
In a speech at the PHILTOA 1st General Membership Meeting, Frasco stressed the importance of opening more direct flights not just in the main gateway – NAIA – in Manila but also in Cebu, Clark and Davao as the gateway for Mindanao.
“We are in close collaboration with the Department of Transportation, as well as the CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, to support of any new requests for slots, as well as for the recovery of the flights that had been halted due to the pandemic,” she said.
According to Frasco, she did a comparison on the tourist arrivals with other competitor countries and found out that landlocked countries are in a better position in terms of attracting tourists. It could be noted that tourists could get turned off with logistical challenges faced by an archipelagic country. To hurdle this handicap, Frasco said the Philippines can open its regional airports to more direct international flights.
Already, she cited additional new routes by Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, the country’s two major flag carriers.
She shared that United Airlines, during the presidential visit in the
United States for the APEC meeting, also firmed up their inaugural flight from San Francisco to Manila and potential additional flights not just to Manila, but to other gateways, including Cebu.
In addition to that, she said that they have also been in talks with Turkish Airlines, which announced of five times a week frequency from Cebu, as well as added flights to Manila. Qatar Airlines also announced seven new additional flights to the Philippines and various destinations. They also planning of negotiating with other airlines from other countries, especially India, which has vast potential in terms of attracting their tourists to the Philippines.
As she pushed for better connectivity, Frasco reported that foreign tourist arrivals in the first two months of the year already reached nearly a million. Meanwhile, domestic tourism is also booming.
“That's why we are very excited and optimistic also that with the privatization efforts of NAIA under the Marcos administration we can see vast improvement in the operation of our airports, which will of course, drive interests in terms of our international aviation partners coming into the country and investing into adding more flights to the Philippines,” she added.
The early release of the list on long weekends in the country is also expected to boost domestic tourism as Filipinos can plan ahead their travels.
The agency is targeting 7.7 million international visitor arrivals this year. Last year, the Philippines logged 5.45 million international visitors, surpassing the 4.8 million target although the figure was only 66 percent of total arrivals in 2019.