By Brian Jules Campued
The Philippines is eyeing to boost its tourism partnership with Austria to further increase the number of Austrian visitors to the country, the Department of Tourism said on Tuesday.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco expressed the intent of the national government to sign a Memorandum of Tourism Cooperation with the European country that will facilitate enhanced connectivity and exchange of best practices in culture, heritage, and retirement tourism as well as strengthen sustainable tourism frameworks and upskilling programs in hospitality.
Frasco cited the 89% recovery rate of visitor arrivals from Austria to the Philippines in 2023 at 13,180, vis-à-vis the 14,840 arrivals recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We acknowledge the opportunity to strengthen the market; we also wish to maximize the opportunity to educate and inform Austrians about our tourism products in the Philippines which are of great interest to Europeans including our beaches, dive sites, adventure offerings, and experiential travel across our islands and among our diverse communities,” she told Austrian State Secretary for Tourism Susanne Kraus-Winkler in a meeting in Vienna on March 7.
Frasco also shared the DOT’s program to train Filipino tourism workers in the Filipino Brand of Service Excellence with over 126,000 trained in 2023 alone; as well as the country’s English as a Second Language Program with the Philippines ranking among the top 5 providers of said tourism product worldwide.
Kraus-Winkler, for her part, broached the conclusion of a “working holiday program” provided for in a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Manila last October 2023.
Working holiday programs combine vacations with practical work experience abroad to allow young people to finance part of their stay abroad; they can enter into temporary employment arrangements in the destination country and make use of educational institutions.
The “workcation” program targets people from 18 to 30 years old who want to broaden their understanding of other countries and cultures.
“We want to further expand the good cooperation between Austria and the Philippines in the field of tourism and promote the mobility of young people. We are looking forward to the talks on the rapid implementation of a working holiday program, as we were recently able to conclude with the USA,” she added. -avds
