The Tourism Promotions Board is confident on achieving the target of attracting 12 million foreign tourists into the Philippines by 2022.
TPB chief operating officer Cesar Montano described the target as “achievable” despite the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and East Asia.
“The political tension in East Asia and in some parts of the EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa], though considered temporary, may last long enough to affect our global tourism outlook and optimism, but there are many other countries or foreign markets that can compensate for the slack and enable us to remain on track of hitting our 12-million target by 2022,” Montano said.
The target is more than double the 5.9 million foreign tourists that visited the Philippines in full-year 2016. “It means our foreign visitor arrivals must have a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of at least 12.6 percent over the next six years,” Montano said.
Montano said China, Taiwan, Australia and the rest of Southeast Asia were among the most promising markets that could help raise the tourist volume.
“We are shifting our focus to other high-volume markets, particularly in the Asia Pacific, in anticipating any sudden or evolving changes in our current market mix or the regional tourism landscape,” Montano said.