 Tourism Secretary Durano
Representatives from various hotels and resorts of the Philippines are scheduled to present developments regarding their respective properties during the road show in Korea.Secretary Joseph Ace Durano of Department of Tourism. Philippine tourism registered an all time high of 2,623,084 international arrivals in 2005 or an increase of 14.5 percent from the previous year's 2,281,352. Korea ranked second as the source of foreign tourists for the Philippines with 19.5 percent market share during the first eight months of this year, according to Ms Maricon Basco-Ebron, head of Team Korea. "To sustain the momentum, the Philippine government will continue to pursue cooperative endeavors in tourism including the sending of Korean instructors to teach the Korean language to tourist front liners, the conduct of cross cultural learning programs for Korean executives based in the Philippines and the undertaking of joint ventures to develop tourist sites in the country" she told The Seoul Times in a telephone interview on Oct. 28,
During the forthcoming visit to Korea, Hon. Secretary Durano will speak on a strategic tourism development initiated by Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to Korean travel trade community and students at Sejong University in Seoul where he is scheduled to make a special lecture on Nov. 10, she disclosed. The office of the Philippine President has recently identified and grouped five super regions for investment planning purposes. Under the plan, Mindanao, for instance, are expected to develop agribusiness as their major contribution to the country's economic growth and metro Luzon in terms of logistic services and manufacturing while central Philippines is envisioned to be the major contributor to the country 's tourism industry. The central Philippines, which consists of 27 provinces covers Palawan and Romblon, the Visayas and Bicol, the northern Mindanao Islands of Camiguin and Siargao and Dapitan will be the centerpiece of the tourism development, Ms.Maricon explained. Pointing out that the central Philippines is the premier tourist destination of the country, she went on to say that this region accounts for 7 out of 10 most visited beaches in the country namely Cebu, Boracay, Negros Occidental, Bicol, Samar, Palawin and Mndoro.
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