By Arabella Asis
The Department of Tourism (DOT) held a discussion with the aviation executives and tourism stakeholders from the United States (US) on Saturday, April 22.
During the event held at Los Angeles, California, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco shared that the main goal of DOT is to increase the number of flights into the Philippines.
“But ultimately in partnership with the Department of Transportation, our intention is not only to maintain these primary gateways but also to develop our secondary gateways that will take our tourists nearer to their final destination to take out the hassle of traveling too many hours and too many flights to be able to access key destinations in the country,” Frasco said.
Frasco also assured that DOT is actively participating in programs, especially in the US in order to build stronger partnership with the travel trade and tourism stakeholders.
North America main provider of tourist in PH
Frasco also announced in the meeting that North America provides the most tourist arrivals in the Philippines.
“During the closure of other markets for outbound travel, North America ranked first in tourist arrivals to the Philippines, strongly indicating its position as an important source market,” she added.
As of April 22, the DOT has already recorded 1,715,757 foreign visitors, with around 300,000 of it coming from the US. – gb
