Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) general manager and chief executive officer Robert Dean Barbers said that the nation would now move on and business and tourism will be on the upsurge after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo manifested her determination to make economic reforms and fiscal discipline assuring business and tourism stakeholders that her administration is resolved in turning the economy around.
Barbers gave this statement in the light of GMA’s net trust rating improvement in the latest Social Weather Station’s (SWS) survey from -33 percent in July to -24 percent this month.
“The President’s speech served as a positive indicator in the business industry as well as in the tourism sector that the administration’s economic agenda would continue to recover and the political wrangling would wane because the people are sick and tired of too much politics. It is very clear that the President would strongly assure investor confidence and her governance would be as solid and stable as ever,” Barbers said.
He added that the best indicator that our tourism industry is on the upswing is the latest tourism statistics that visitor arrivals have been increasing steadily.
International tourist arrivals during the first half of this year increased by 1,285,762 compared to 1,140,517 for the same period last year or an aggregate increase of 13 percent from Jan-June 2005. Chinese tourists visiting the country topped the list having a remarkable increase by 140 percent in the first half of 2005. Koreans ranked second with a significant increase of 25.6 percent while Americans, Australians and Japanese ranked third, fourth and fifth with an average increase of 11 percent.
More: mb.com.ph
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More: nst.com.my
Ms Wriedt was responding to a budget submission from the Tourism Council of Tasmania, which warned that Tasmania was falling behind its competitors in attracting visitors to the State. The Tourism Council believes the Government needs to spend an additional $12 million on advertising to prevent any further deterioration in the tourist market.
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"For the past twelve months, we've been telling the industry that after a number of years of
