DOT in talks with foreign airlines for more flights to Europe, China

February 7th, 2008

China Shenzhen Airlines

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) considers the establishment of more direct international flights from target markets as a short-term priority to beef up tourism activities in Cebu.

Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano made the announcement last Tuesday during the 888 News Forum. He said tourism stakeholders are negotiating with China Shenzhen Airlines for the opening of a direct flight between Nanning, China and Cebu this March.

“The lack of direct flights makes Cebu tour packages more expensive,” he said.

Last year, China Southern Airline started its direct flight to Cebu with four chartered and regular direct and indirect flights from Shanghai every week. Durano said he expects more Chinese airline companies to follow, considering the strong outbound market of China.

In Asia, countries like China, Korea, Japan and India are considered to be top market priorities of the Philippines.

Durano said the tourism sector is also determined to capitalize on the fast growing tourism markets in New Delhi and Mumbai in India.

A direct India-Cebu route will significantly increase traffic of Indian tourists who come to the province for leisure, he added.

European tourists

To attract more high-spending European tourists, Durano said the DOT is planning to negotiate with Middle Eastern airlines by offering them competitive rates.

German carrier Lufthansa announced earlier it will stop its flights to Manila in April.

Durano said the DOT also intends to regularize the thrice-monthly chartered flight from Vladivostok, Russia to Cebu.

“Doha, Qatar, which is a major stopover on the way to Cebu, is not a competing destination,” Durano said, adding that Doha’s dessert environment complements Cebu’s tropical climate.

“These airlines in the Middle East provide growth capacity for tourism here,” he said. He said airline companies in the Middle East are “aggressive” in looking for new flight destinations.

Philippine aircraft carriers have not expressed plans to open a route to Europe, said Durano.

This is why, he said, the best strategy to penetrate Europe is by working with Middle Eastern airline operators.

Durano said Europe accounted for nine percent of the total foreign arrivals in the country last year.

Russian tourist arrivals, on the other hand, posted a 160 percent growth, making them “the fastest growing market over-all,” he said.

According to the DOT, visitor arrivals from France registered a 22 percent growth last year while the number of German visitors in the country grew by eight percent. Scandinavian tourists also posted double digit growth.

“We have a healthy growth rate from the European countries,” Durano said.

But Durano said the lack of international flights to Cebu is one of the factors that hampered the growth of the tourism industry in the province, and has made it less attractive to foreign tourists compared to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia.

He said these countries get the bulk of the traveling market since their national carriers provide flight services to international routes, unlike Philippine carriers which concentrate more on regional destinations and those in the Pacific.

Durano also said the establishment of more international flights makes the expansion of the Mactan Cebu International Airport more urgent.

Article source: The Freeman