Asean should join hands to strengthen ties, boost tourism

WITH the market integration of the Asean member countries set to happen in 2015, the Philippines should start strengthening relationship with other countries in the region.

National Association of Independent Travel Agencies in the Philippines (NAITAS) chairman emeritus Robert Lim Joseph gave this advice yesterday to tourism stakeholders.

Joseph said that instead of competing with each other in getting more tourists, members of the Asean region should come up with joint tour packages that would promote what each country is offering and compliment each other in the process.

Joseph, who will talk in today’s 27th Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Conference at the Radisson Blu Hotel, said that he will discuss points on how each countries can achieve this.

“We should strengthen ties with the ASEAN especially Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia among others. One destination package is more exciting and attractive for the international travelers,” said Joseph.

According to Joseph, even before the implementation of the Asean Tourism integration by 2015, the Philippines led by the private sector, should now take the lead in initiating this move with other member countries.

Other ASEAN countries include Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.

He said local businessmen should take advantage of the momentous event and strengthen the relationships with the countries as tourism being its entry to potential partnerships in the future.

“The government through the Department of Tourism (DOT) has been so far effective in its programs and promotions which has benefited the industry in many ways,” said Joseph.

NEW ATTRACTIONS

Joseph said that in Cebu, the private and public sector has been working on to develop new attractions and enhance existing ones now which will be more promising with the government’s increased spending in support infrastructure.

“Cebu is known for its night-life, shopping, food culture, and internationally known events like Sinulog, among others. These attractions should be enhanced and new exciting events should be develop as a way to also promote existing or new attractions,” he said.

One example of an activity that will attract more people here is by enhancing the shopping component of Cebu.

“Aside from putting in signature brand shops and more high-end brands coming here, Cebu can also incorporate the Cebu-made fashion jewelry to make a duty-free jewelry shop in Cebu, where fashion jewelry products will be mixed with fine jewelry materials like diamonds mixed with the usual materials used by the designers,” said Joseph.

Joseph added that Cebu can start by promoting local designers in the world focusing on our original creations of fine jewelry, hand bags, shoes, clothes, to help attract foreign tourists here and then do an event that will encourage them to shop for these products here. That way Cebu can also grow tourists spending receipts.

The “culture of tourism” in the country including Cebu which is one of the key tourism destinations, should also be further developed which Joseph said can be pioneered by Cebu.

Strategies

“For that we can develop strategies and 20-year doable master-plan which stakeholders here in partnership with the local government units (LGUs) will implement down to the community or barangay level to really make tourism a business for everyone,” Joseph said.

Joseph reiterated his confidence of Cebu’s potential in tourism sector, saying that if Cebuanos are made “ambassador of tourism” coupled with the ingenuity and creativity of Cebuanos, there is no doubt Cebu will lead in tourism growth not only in the Philippines, but the entire region.

“Cebu has a large potential to become a very successful tourism destination in the world which we can achieve by starting from the basic which is the culture of tourism,” said Joseph.

At least 300 business executives from the 27 different countries in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to attend today’s conference which will tackle relevant issues in major industries that impact global economy including tourism.