MANILA – The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Tuesday said it will pursue air talks with the governments of South Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia to increase two-way traffic with the Philippines.
“Our ability to create demand is no longer in question. We are [a] highly desired destination. The game between now and 2016 is to build the capacity and to release that demand,” Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said during the Arangkada Philippines Forum.
“We are pretty close and in fact renegotiating seat agreements with Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong,” Jimenez said.
He said the Philippines already used up about 90 percent of the seat entitlements with Korea, 65 percent with Hong Kong and 97 percent with Malaysia.
Earlier, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said air talks this year would be aligned with the priorities of the DOT to meet the government’s tourist arrivals target.
CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the Philippine air panel is looking at major markets such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Europe, Australia, Canada and China to meet the government’s 5.5 million tourist arrivals target this year. The 2013 goal is higher than last year’s 4.3 million.
Of the total target for this year, 1.25 million would come from Korea, 860,248 from the US, 546,701 from Asean, 445,364 from Japan, 271,696 from Taiwan, 260,055 from Australia, and 260,000 from China. Other key markets are Hong Kong, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Russia and Scandinavia.
The Philippine Air Services Negotiating Panel is composed of officials from the CAB, DOT, Departments of Transportation and Communications, and of Foreign Affairs, as well as from the Clark International Airport Corp and representatives of local airline companies.
Last year, the Philippine air panel held talks with United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore and South Korea.
The Aquino administration is pursuing air talks as part of its open skies policy. The government aims to generate six million tourists, three million jobs and $4.6 billion in tourism revenues by 2016, allowing the sector to contribute 6.35 percent to gross domestic product.
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Source: Darwin G. Amolejar, InterAksyon, 26 February 2013
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