By Arno Maierbrugger
Gulf Times Correspondent
Bangkok

On the search for what it perceives to be “high-value” tourists, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) is setting its sights on new markets in the Middle East to draw more visitors, namely from Qatar and Iran. According to the agency’s Middle East Division director Francisco Lardizabal, promotion campaigns are planned to kick off in both countries shortly.
The move comes just after an agreement has been signed last week between Qatar and the Philippines to increase flight frequencies from eight per week to 14 on the Doha-Manila route. Qatar Airways will add these six extra flights a week between from October 26, resulting in the airline operating a twice-daily service between the two cities. In turn, six new frequencies on the route have been allotted to airlines in the Philippines. It has prompted Cebu Pacific to announce that it will tighten its frequencies from the current two weekly round-trips to up to seven. It also happens shortly after Philippine aviation authorities granted permission for more flights between Manila and the UAE, which now allows Emirates and Etihad Airways a total of 35 weekly flights from their airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, hubs that offer more than ten daily flights to and from Tehran.
As per sheer numbers, there is certainly potential for more tourists from both Qatar and Iran to the Philippines. According to DOT data, 2,589 tourists from Qatar visited the Philippines from January to July this year. Iranian tourists in the same period were just 1,980. However, compared to “mass tourism” from China or Malaysia, the two Middle East countries “have the potential to bring in more ‘quality travellers’,” Lardizabal said.
“Those are source markets for tourists who will stay longer and spend more,” he explained, adding that “they will fill up business and first class seats on flights. These are also the markets which fill up suites in the hotels and resorts.”
In the recent past, the Philippines has made a number of efforts to boost foreign visitor arrivals. First of all, visa regulations have been simplified and periods of stay extended. There are visible signs that the country is eager to improve its touristic infrastructure, although a lot has still to be done. The DOT also came up with new products to pique the interest of more foreign travellers, including medical tourism, luxury cruise destination, English language courses and diving and underwater photography. It also wants to boost corporate travel in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) segment, as well as for foreign tourism investors and those looking for a destination for retirement.
There have also been attempts to entice visitors from Qatar with a “Filipino cuisine” campaign to promote the Philippines as a culinary destination, including for halal food.
Annual international tourist arrivals have been steadily rising, from 3.5mn in 2010, to a record-high 4.8mn in 2014, according to DOT figures. The target for this year is somewhere between 5mn and 5.5mn. Statistics show that 2,619,625 visitors came in during the first half of 2015, roughly an 8% increase compared to the same period last year. However, income earned from tourist spending increased by just 1.16% to a bit more than $2bn in the same period.