Travel Update Philippines – May 2014

TRAVELUpdate PHILIPPINES The total industry read

MAY 30, 2014 / VOLUME 17 INTEGRATED ISSUE 11

ISSN 0118-4709

3 Why affiliations matter

8

6

Green hotel program in PH extended, now covers Thailand

Visit Nueva Viscaya Photo Source: Ministry of Tourism & Sports, Thailand

Payment

Confirm

Artwork by Jimmy Hilario

Reserve

Cyberspace a challenge to DOT accreditation

O 0 1 1 8 4 7 09

nline travel agents and other businesses operating in the cyberspace can soon be accredited by the Department of Tourism’s accreditation standard for travel and tour agencies, which is expected to be made public by summer if approved by Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. The DOT has made sure to include the new breed of travel middlemen; the agency is often at the receiving end of complaints against fly-by-night online sellers. “If they are operating online, they would still have to comply with the same requirements, for example “Cyberspace a challege to DOT accreditation” continued on page 2 >>

COVER STORY “Cyberspace a challege to DOT accreditation” continued from page 1 >>

having a physical office, as those of regular travel agents and tour operators,” said Director Rica Bueno of the DOT’s office of tourism standards and regulations.

But Bueno also admitted that the DOT is still struggling on how to regulate a platform that many believe cannot be completely, or even effectively, policed, despite the agency’s consultations with other government bodies such as the NBI, National Telecommunications Commission, and the DTI. Bueno added that the agency’s definition of an OTA, under the new standards, would not cover new forms of online businesses such as b2b aggregators and those have began to be involved in travel, such as deal sites.

Hotel accreditation in 4Q2014 Meanwhile, the agency is batting to roll out the accreditation standard for hotels in the last quarter of 2014 just in time with the accommodation sector’s schedule for accreditation renewal.

Finished in 2012, the new standard, which uses a fivestar rating system, is being piloted nationwide excluding Cebu, Bohol, Davao, and Palawan. Bueno said more than 500 of the 618 hotels and resorts have been inspected by 35 third-party assessors. The piloting would be finished

by April.

As the pilot process goes, the hotels and resorts involved in the program would receive the audit findings from the DOT. “There’s a period wherein the DOT head office will review all the audit findings. Then we will release the audit findings to the property for their corresponding review. If there are any issues and concerns in the audit findings, they can actually write to DOT. The DOT will be recommending the time frame wherein they can rectify the deficiencies,” explained Bueno.

The pilot program is different from a similar activity by the three-year Asian Development Bank-Canadian International Development Agency (ADB-CIDA) assistance program, which will cover hotels and resorts in Davao, Bohol, Cebu, and Palawan. The inspection of 250 hotels from the four destinations will happen between May and July. Unlike the pilot program, this will involve about 10 foreign inspectors and a number of local inspectors.

The DOT accepted the assistance grant from CIDA last year to boost Philippine tourism competitiveness.

Supervised by ADB, the program includes the assessment

2

of tourism regulations, the implementation of the hotel accreditation system, and a grant program for skills development.

The results of the DOT’s and ADB-CIDA’s pilot programs would help further improve the new standard.

“The limitation of the current standards is indicators on service. Under the ADB-CIDA, most likely there will be improvements. The service standard indicators will be strengthened based on the findings,” said Bueno.

The DOT is in the initial stages of drafting the standard for restaurants, surfing school, and MICE organizers and suppliers.

A sample of online-search and -reservation of hotels in Manila.

A sample of growing number of portals that does online-booking worldwide.

DOT is batting to roll out the accreditation standard for hotels in the last quarter of 2014 just in time with the accommodation sector’s schedule for accreditation renewal. Finished in 2012, the new standard, which uses a five-star rating system, is being piloted nationwide excluding Cebu, Bohol, Davao, and Palawan. Bueno said more than 500 of the 618 hotels and resorts have been inspected by 35 thirdparty assessors. The piloting would be finished by April.

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

May 30, 2014

REPORT

Why affiliations matter

Photo from http://www.discoverymice.com/WEC2013/images/slide1.jpg

Over the past years, the role of associations and foreign organizations in expanding the reach of Philippine tourism has become more apparent and, perhaps, even more useful.

In 2012, the country hosted PATA Travel Mart – the last time Manila did so was in 1978. In 2013, press releases bannered the involvement of PATA, UNWTO, WTTC, and International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) in Bohol and Eastern Visayas’ tourism recovery. This year is extra special for Philippines-UNWTO relations – the country hosted the World Ecotourism Conference in February and will play venue for a series of climate change and ministers’ meetings in May. The privilege and costs of hosting events are highlights of the country’s increasingly active participation in the international scene. Visibility is highly important in the international community, said Domingo Enerio III, COO of the Tourism Promotions Board that is a member of PATA and ICCA. To be seen means the Philippine national government is serious on tourism.

But visibility is not cheap. According to data provided by the UNWTO to Travel Update, the membership dues to the UNWTO of the Philippines in 2014 would reach EUR70,854, roughly PHP4.3 million. It increases every year based on local consumer price index. Membership dues to ICCA is at EUR2,879 (PHP177,030) in 2014 and to PATA (according to Enerio) at about USD2,500 (PHP110,700).

Not all countries find membership necessary. For instance, the UNWTO, the biggest tourism organization in the world whose aim is to promote “tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability”, has about 156 countries and six associate members (and 400 affiliate members) under its umbrella.

There are 195 countries and 72 dependent areas in the world, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

In fact, two of the top ten most visited countries in 2012 are not part of the group, namely the U.S. and United Kingdom. In the same year, Canada withdrew from the group in protest of a UNWTO event held in Zimbabwe while Latvia pulled back reportedly due to the “little help” it got from the group. The Philippines ceased being a UNWTO member after 1989 but quickly rejoined in 1991. New Zealand, Singapore, Finland, and Sweden, among other countries, are also non-members.

May 30, 2014

Two domestic tourism officials said that the Philippines gets more than what it pays for, in general.

“We can attend their training and conferences, secure information which aid our planning and activities, allow us to network with other governments, and enable us to influence international and regional policies and programs to the best interest of the Philippines,” said Assistant Secretary Rolando Cañizal of the DOT’s planning division. His office directly represents the Philippines in several tourism affiliations.

More than visibility and representation, Enerio said that the networking opportunities and access to crucial market and industry data collectively overshadow the costs of affiliation. For instance, he attributed the Philippines’ rise in the MICE index of the ICCA to a more active submission of data effected by their membership.

Cañizal highlighted the UNWTO’s assistance to tourism policymaking specifically to the National Tourism Development Plan 2011-2016. “UNWTO provides support to the implementation of the NTDP, but extending technical assistance to build capacity of the national agency on tourism planning, statistical gathering, and policy development.”

Among the most recent assistance provided by the group is an expert to assist in the post-earthquake Tourism Recovery Plan for Bohol. Cañizal has not responded to Travel Update’s follow-up emails when asked on the progress of this planning.

As the government puts its hope on tourism to generate needed jobs and economic growth, the two officials hinted that the Philippines would need all the help it could get out of its international friends.

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

3

THE LONG ROAD AHEAD PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Where do we begin?

Our readers will remember that Travel Update came out with the first of many stories about the ASEAN Integration as early as two years ago. From then, we did interviews with school owners, the academe, and travel trade practitioners. Did we get meaningful inputs and feedback?

Well, yes and no.

As much as we discussed it to great lengths, only the school owners were open enough to reveal the is sues and their inhibitions about it. Many were concerned more with the K to 12 program that will, initially, affect parents, teachers, and the schools itself.

Now that the implementation date has been set, there is more public knowledge of k-12, its effects, adverse to those who did not put any relevance to it in their day-to-day lives. They know now that college teachers will be jobless for the couple of years it will take before a high school youth graduates and go to college, and the schools then, too, will have to adjust. Parents would have to shell out more tuition money for the added two years; and for the students, it will be two more years of wading through floods and inhaling toxic fumes of jeepneys and tricycles.

TRAVELUpdate PHILIPPINES

GROUP EDITOR

ART DIRECTOR

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT

graphic designer

Associate Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Buddy G. Recio Edmund Dennis Ladaw Paolo Abellanosa

4

Jerry Manalili Jimmy Hilario

Jet Revilla Genivi Factao

But it is already set, and no matter how we see pitfalls and try to complain as Filipinos are wont to do when it is too late, we should gather all our resources and look ahead.

What about the ASEAN integration?

Again, seminars about it are everywhere and broadcasters have finally included it on their topics. Awareness, again, has been slow. How do we get the so-called cutting edge since time is not on our side?

First is course matching. People my age remember the times when it was our parents who chose the course, after all, they will be the ones paying for the tuition; and many of us, who have dreamt of doing something else, and good with it, gets relegated to a course where the father or the mother excelled, or did not excel , for that matter.

I myself had to change course three times, and I was lucky to be adept at my last course. Even though it wasn’t my dream, it does pay the bills today, as I have learned to love what I do. Sadly, I can’t say the same for some of my classmates.

Now, they are lawyers who don’t practice, doctors who are now travel agents, some sell insurance and real estate, the angst of not being able to study the course

PUBLISHER

Bucketlist Publishing Corporation MBE UG11 Alfaro Place, 146 Leviste St., Salcedo Village, Makati City Tel: (632) 893-6655 / 524-0580 Fax: (632) 893-6688 E-mail: subscribe@travelupdate.ph;

buddy@travelupdate.ph website:www.travelupdate.ph

they wanted has taken its toll.

It is prudent to let your child decide what he or she wants to pursue. Living the dream will make them happy even if is painful not to have a lawyer, a doctor a nurse, or even a seaman in your family. At least, they graduate earlier with no added expense because of shifting courses, don’t you agree?

Second is being competitive. I have noticed that some teachers impart to their students that displaying braggadocio is actually being competitive. I call it “all smoke and no fire”. Workplace at the rest of the world is a wysiwyg (what-you-seeis-what-you-get) sort of result-oriented activity. True, there are lapdogs who prosper for a time, and one can bluff his way into entry level, but what happens next? The competition that we will encounter abroad is now coming to our shores and they will compete with us on what little opportunities we have left.

In tourism, we will have the opportunities and we should take it. God has bestowed to us the natural wonders, government is supportive, the private sector is inspired, local investors have finally looked our way. Foreign tourists always praise the Filipino as naturally friendly and has a happy attitude. We are tailor-fit for tourism greatness. If we have lost time before, we can make up for it by beginning the future through tourism. Let’s not give it to others.

It is prudent to let your child decide what he or she wants to pursue. Living the dream will make them happy even if is painful not to have a lawyer, a doctor a nurse, or even a seaman in your family. At least, they graduate earlier with no added expense because of shifting courses, don’t you agree?

ADVERTISING AND CIRCULATION Landline (roaming): (632) 881-5401 Mobile (63) 917-836-7251 E-mail: subscribe@travelupdate.ph;

buddy@travelupdate.ph website:www.travelupdate.ph

Like us on Facebook: travelupdateph Follow us on Twitter: TravelUpdatePH

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES is published fortnightly (yearly total of 19 issues for travel trade and private sector subscribers, 16 issues for schools and university subscribers). For releases, advertising and subscription inquiries, please contact the address in the box. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Copyright by Travel Update Philippines. All rights reserved.

Volume 17 Integrated Issue 11 / May 30, 2014 / ISSN 0118-4709

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

May 30, 2014

NEWS

Artwork by Jimmy Hilario

Roxas Boulevard rehab eyed complete in November

The Department of Public Works and Highways sees a redeveloped main Roxas Boulevard by November amid pressure to complete the project at the soonest possible date in time for the beginning of APEC meetings in December.

While the T.M. Kalaw Street-P. Ocampo Street side of the boulevard is bound to finish by November, the Roxas Boulevard side in the Paranaque City area won’t be through until December, according to DPWH-NCR Regional Director Reynaldo Tugadando in an email interview with this newspaper.

The government envisions Roxas Boulevard as a park complex by 2015 when Manila welcomes APEC meeting delegates. Storm surges have battered the boulevard’s seawall and buildings along it over the past years, contributing to calls to strengthen the bay walk and also revitalize commerce around it.

Disaster mitigation The project will be done in phases, said its designer, Paulo Alcazaren, in an online correspondence in late March.

The DPWH has finished restoring and repairing the seawall in July 2012. “The purpose of strengthening the Roxas Boulevard seawall is to minimize flooding and other disastrous impacts of typhoons or storm surges. There is also an on-going feasibility study on the proposed breakwater project for the unprotected portion of Roxas Boulevard; this structure will serve as a barrier against strong waves coming from Manila Bay,” says Tugadando.

Alcazaren added, “Drainage of boulevard is also being unclogged and improved. Other DRR [disaster risk reduction] interventions need to be at a larger scale than just the boulevard.”

Who is in charge of Roxas Boulevard?

The redevelopment is a project of an inter-agency committee led by the DOT and whose members include the DPWH, National Parks Development Committee, TIEZA, MMDA, and the cities of Manila, Pasay, and Parañaque. In August 2013, the DBM reported an allocation of PHP250 million to the DPWH for the redevelopment.

May 30, 2014

When finished, Roxas Boulevard will be a pedestrianized and bike-friendly attraction supported by better lighting and a policy that limits or restricts billboards in the area. Among the improvements and new features of Roxas Boulevard that were unveiled last year by Alcazaren include coherent landscaping, multistory parking buildings, and service roads-turned shopping roads and events places.

Although the project involves three LGUs, Carlos Celdran, Manila’s tourism consultant, said the city government’s involvement in the redevelopment is “very little” but “We’ll be taking of it after it’s done.” He meant the area within Manila’s jurisdiction.

When finished, Roxas Boulevard will be a pedestrianized and bike-friendly attraction supported by better lighting and a policy that limits or restricts billboards in the area, described DOT Assistant Secretary Eugene Kaw in an email interview.

Among the improvements and new features of Roxas Boulevard that were unveiled last year by Alcazaren include coherent landscaping, multi-story parking buildings, and service roads-turned shopping roads and events places.

The project would the icing on the cake as hotels in the Bay Area wrap up their renovation activities. Among those that recently finished is Traders Hotel Manila, whose five-year renovation covered the entire building. Meanwhile, Manila Hotel is undergoing a rebranding and renovation project in preparation for APEC. With the opening of City of Dreams Manila late this year, the industry expects the Bay Area to drum up more tourism activity.

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

5

DESTINATION FEATURE

Visit

Nueva Vizcaya

By Czarina Geronimo

The province of Nueva Vizcaya is easily bypassed en route to the rice terraces of Ifugao. The trip today has become longer – not because of road projects, but after locals have created more reasons for travellers to extend their stopover.

The gateway to Cagayan Valley Region is particularly keen on ethnic tourism. Nueva Vizcaya is home to at least 12 various tribes, almost one for each of its 15 municipalities.

Their traditions date back before colonial times.

Among the first inhabitants of the region were the Gaddangs. Theirs was a head-hunting culture, and, historically, they were notoriously known to resolve issues and conflict through the test of force and strength. Battles aside, they have developed curious traditions of kinship and social relations. A practice called solyad involves two men exchanging wives for a period of six months to a year. This enables them to expand their network, recognizing the family of the other as their very own.

The cultures in Nueva Vizcaya are strongly tied with the bounties brought by agriculture and the mountains. An ethnic tribe, the Isinai people, sacrifices wild pigs for feasts not only for meat but also for good luck. A fairly large liver means good luck for the feast. If the liver is deemed too small, the men would kill another pig and perform the ritual all over again until the council of Isinai elders are satisfied.

For the past six runs, locals have celebrated their differences with an annual

6

event called Grand Ammungan Festival every May. This week-long celebration gathers all ethnic tribes in Nueva Vizcaya where they show their ethnic costumes, dances, songs, and rituals.

More of the culture and tradition of these ethnic tribes can be explored by tourists as they visit the provincial museum. Declared a National Cultural Treasure, St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Dupax Del Sur houses local artifacts located at the church’s museum.

Big and healthy food Nueva Vizcaya is primarily an agricultural province, and it takes pride in the products that they produce. Curiously, many of the fruits and vegetables they yield are bigger than the usual – at a contest during this month’s Ammungan Festival, a farmer won the prize for a 2.75-kilo sweet potato while another for an incredibly humongous 36.9-kilo langka.

Farmers attribute this to soil quality and organic approach they implement. At a popular local store in Bayombong called Vizcaya Fresh!, the sight of larger-than-usual produce are normal. The store grew famous because of its organically grown products from the upland farms of Nueva Vizcaya.

It sells products in Manila every Sunday at Legaspi Market.

A showcase of their products are sold at the Ammungan Village, a year-round market near the provincial capitol building where each municipality has a hut to display and sell agricultural and cultural goods.

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

The cultures in Nueva Vizcaya are strongly tied with the bounties brought by agriculture and the mountains. An ethnic tribe, the Isinai people, sacrifices wild pigs for feasts not only for meat but also for good luck. A fairly large liver means good luck for the feast.

If the liver is deemed too small, the men would kill another pig and perform the ritual all over again until the council of Isinai elders are satisfied.

May 30, 2014

DESTINATION FEATURE Foodservices in the province bring the experience to a local level. Kaboodle Grill and Restaurant offers meals for groups to share, the boodle fight way. This countryside setup encourages conversation within the group. Exotic dishes and delicacies like the ararawan (field cricket) – fried and dipped in vinegar and best enjoyed with a beer and karaoke – are available at All Day Exotic Grill and Restaurant.

Governors Garden Hotel offers native merienda buffet served every Friday afternoon. The spread is prepared by in-house cooks and the ingredients used came from their very own organic farm in Busilak Bayombong. Aside from the hotel, Highlander Hotel and Resort is also among the recommended accommodation facilities in Nueva Vizcaya.

Adventure With little phone signal, Lower Magat Eco-Tourism Park, is a great bonding opportunity for families and friends with activities like horse-back riding, fishing,

May 30, 2014

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

boating, and trekking. This 1,000-hectare forest reserve in Brgy. San Luis, Diadi Nueva Vizcaya is a favorite for team building activities, which can be extended overnight since the park offers a wide ground for camping and cottages designed after those of local ethnic groups. The provincial government plans to add more attractions in the park.

Many of the province’s ecotourism attractions have been relatively untouched.

Imugan Falls in the small town of Sta. Fe can be reached after a 30-minute rough-road drive and a 30-minute trek to the falls itself.

The fifth longest cave system in the Philippines, Capisaan Cave, is located in Nueva Vizcaya. It is currently closed as the provincial government develops a cave management plan to determine how they can further improve the cave adventure without damaging its natural beauty.

People who drive back home to Manila usually make a last stop at Dalton Pass View Point. This historical landmark was named after General James Leo Dalton II who was shot dead by a Japanese sniper during the Battle of Balete Pass. The view and cold mountain breeze is best enjoyed with coffee.

The local government together, with the Department of Tourism aims to finish tourism projects by 2016, in time with the Visit Philippines Year campaign. More than just the gateway to the Cagayan Valley Region with all that it has to offer, the province of Nueva Vizcaya is being prepped up to jump places from a mere stopover to become a full-scale vacation destination.

7

NEWS

Artwork by Jimmy Hilario

Green hotel program in PH extended, now covers Thailand

Members of Zero Carbon Resorts Project have reaped savings in operations, also in marketing expenses.

The project has also achieved to institutionalize green hotel operations. In Palawan, new resorts are required to be members of ZCR before given local business and building permits.

Proponents of the largest green hotel program in the Philippines will export best practices in sustainable hotel operations developed in the country to Thailand, following the extension of the highly successful Zero Carbon Resorts (ZCR) Project.

In May, the European Union delegation’s attaché for environment, energy, and climate change in the Philippines Matthieu Penot said it has extended its four-year funding of ZCR, which in its last year of implementation this year has registered in about 500 members, representing 25,000 hotel rooms nationwide. Most of ZCR’s members are independent and SME players.

The extended project is called ZCR for Sustainable Tourism that will double ZCR’s current members in both Thailand and the Philippines in the next four years, said Dr. Robert Wimmer, ZCR project leader and head of implementing agency GrAT, during its fourth project conference.

Began in November 2009, ZCR’s main environmental philosophy centers around the 3R methodology or “Reduce, Replace, and Redesign”. It argues that greening up the hotel need not be drastic - which is precisely why the project took four years to finish. In the Reduce stage, it proposes simple yet effective methods to maximize energy use. Savings from reduction of excessive energy consumption could be invested in the Replace stage, where the hotel would forego inefficient devices and machines in favor of effective ones, some of which use indigenous technologies. In the long run, the hotel needs to redo its infrastructure for larger savings, thus the Redesign stage.

Out of 500 members, ZCR closely monitored a sample of 152 members to calculate their savings, which reached between PHP241 million and PHP260 million annually.

The amount saved in energy, water, and fuel consumption represents the annual consumption of 41,870 homes, 3,890 households, and 2,160 cars, respectively.

8

Building a green brand For ZCR’s top members, affiliation with the program also saves them marketing expenses. Three out of the five Philippine-based accommodations that won the biennial ASEAN Green Hotel Award in January were ZCR members. One of them, Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort, has received amounts of free publicity over the past years of being a ZCR model resorts. Green operations has been part of its reputation.

Beyond helping individual resorts, Penot said the project could build a green brand for the local industry. “We believe the challenge now is to move up the tourism value chain.

One way to do that is to come up with a distinctive Philippine green tourism brand,” he said during the conference.

The Philippines is nearer to that goal than what many thinks. Among the project’s biggest achievement is successfully urging government agencies to institutionalize the project. A resort is now likely to get a higher DOT star-rating when it follows certain green standards, although these are not mandatory.

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

“Green hotel program...” continued on page 2 >>

May 30, 2014

ON THE MAP “Green hotel program...” continuation from page 8 >>

In Palawan, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, a national government agency, mandates that new resorts and “projects related to tourism” become members of ZCR and submit regular reports for monitoring before it releases an SEP clearance. The clearance is required by LGUs before permits, licenses, contracts, and agreements are approved, such as business and building permits.

Philippines host UNWTO-ASEAN climate change conference The need to strengthen the tourism sector’s ability to address climate change took centre stage during the UNWTO-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change.

The Conference was held in conjunction with the 26th Joint Commission Meeting for Asia and the Pacific (Legazpi, Philippines, 18-20 May 2014).

Asia-Pacific has been at the forefront of tourism growth and development over the last decade, and recent numbers confirm that tourism in the region continues to progress above average. With rising international tourist arrivals and receipts in 2013 (+6% and +8%, respectively), the region’s tourism leadership is increasingly consolidated. Yet, continued tourism growth and sustainable development depends on improving the tourism’s sector resilience to climate change.

“Climate change is real”, said President Benigno S. Aquino III, opening the Conference. Aquino commended the celebration of events such as these and underscored the relevance of tourism as “one of the shortest and most efficient paths to inclusive growth”. The Philippines is mainstreaming “climate change adaptation with local, sectoral, and national plans – all of which will consequently guide the development of tourism destinations and tourism activities per locality”. ”With the increasing risks of climate change, this is something we encourage other ASEAN-member countries, as well as countries around the world, to look into”, he added.

UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, made a call to position the fight against climate change at the heart of the tourism agenda, underscoring both the need for greater responsibility from the sector and the benefits sustainability entails for tourism and beyond: “Energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies can reduce operational costs. Resource efficiency not only mitigates and reduces the tourism footprint, but fosters economic growth and creates much needed jobs in the process.”

The Conference highlighted that climate change mitigation policies should be consistent with the overall challenge it represents, thus requiring a multi-stakeholder approach and taking into account specific technological, economic and social changes.

The UNWTO-ASEAN International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change brought together more than 200 senior tourism officials, policymakers and industry experts from 18 countries to exchange views and best practices on how to strengthen the sector’s ability to address this global challenge.

SURVEY

Top spenders in international tourism

Over the past six decades tourism has experienced continued expansion and diversification, becoming one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world.

Many new destinations have emerged, challenging the traditional ones of Europe and North America. Despite occasional shocks, international tourist arrivals have shown virtually uninterrupted growth – from 277 million in 1980 to 528 million in 1995, and passing the 1 billion mark in December 2012. As global economic recovery took hold and departures from the emerging economies continued to show strong growth, this figure rose to 1.087 billion international arrivals in 2013.

UNWTO’s long-term outlook and assessment of future tourism trends is positive. The number of international tourist arrivals worldwide is expected to increase by 3.3% a year on average from 2010 to 2030. This represents some 43 million more international tourist arrivals every year, reaching a total of 1.8 billion arrivals by 2030.

As an internationally traded service, inbound tourism has become one of the world’s major trade categories. The overall export income

10

generated by inbound tourism, including passenger transport, exceeded US$ 1.3 trillion in 2012, accounting for as much as 9% of global GDP. The highest growth rates in expenditure on international travel in recent years have come from emerging economies. For some 90 countries, receipts from international tourism were over US$ 1 billion in 2012. Spending is classed as expenditure on international tourism before departure, including contracted transport.

The top 5 countries by expenditure on international tourism in 2013 are as follows: Ranking 2013 1 China 2 United States 3 Germany 4 United Kingdom 5 Russian Federation

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

USD$ (billion) 129 86 86 53 53

Change (%) +26% +3% +2% +25% +4%

May 30, 2014

ABACUS ABACUS ABACUS 0000000

1B – MU Joint Booking Promo

Just book & ticket on China Eastern Airlines using the Abacus system for a chance to win!!!

GRAND PRIZES One (1) China Eastern Airlines RT Business Class Ticket to PVG Apple iPad Mini 16GB MONTHLY PRIZES China Eastern Airlines RT Economy Tickets to PVG Abacus Power Banks

Terms & Conditions: 1. Promo period is from June 1– August 31, 2014.

2. Open to all Abacus Travel Consultants Nationwide.

3. HOW TO QUALIFY: A. Book and ticket (out MNL only) on China Eastern Airline using Abacus system for a chance to win One (1) China Eastern Airlines RT Business Class Ticket to PVG and an iPad Mini for the Grand Draws and China Eastern Airlines RT Economy Tickets to PVG and Abacus Power Banks for the Monthly Draws.

B. Double your entries when you book during the Travel Madness Expo (TME) from July 4 - 6, 2014.

(Only Travel Agencies participating in the TME are qualified) C. Qualified raffle entries will be drawn electronically. Travel consultant owner of Sine-in code used to book PNR will receive the prize.

D. EMAIL TICKETED Abacus PNRs to mktg@abacusph.com. Format entries for sending are as follows: Single Entries:

For entries during the TME:

a. pe¥mktg@abacusph.com¥

a. 5V¥EM-Travel Madness

b. 6Agent Name

b. pe¥mktg@abacusph.com¥

c. EMTPR¥N0.0

c. 6Agent Name d. EMTPR¥N0.0

4.

5.

6.

Each prize will have one (1) winner (ie. Grand Draws will have two (2) winners; Monthly Draws will have total of six (6) winners).

All FOC tickets are subject to seat availability and exclusive of Government taxes and fuel surcharges.

For promo details and list of winners visit https://eservices.abacus.com.sg Abacus and China Eastern Airlines reserve the right to amend the conditions and period of the promo.

Abacus - Airlines Joint Product Update Cebu Parklane International Hotel Abacus - AirlinesApril Joint Product Update 4, 2014 LewisAirways, Grand Hotel, Pampanga Etihad EVA Air, Qatar Airways May 14, 2014 Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Qantas Airways, Royal Brunei Airlines & Hawaiian Airlines

May May30, 30,2014 2014

TRAVEL UPDATE PHILIPPINES

11 11

TM