MANILA, May 8 (PNA) — Malacañang on Friday welcomed the 2015 World Economic Forum (WEF) report, moving the Philippines up eight notches to the 74th position in a list of 141 countries with sound travel and tourism environment.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte considered this an “improvement,” as the country was ranked 82nd out of 140 nations in the WEF’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index released in 2013.
Valte attributed the rise in the Philippines’ ranking this year to the many strides taken by the government toward the implementation of its tourism development plan.
According to the report, the Philippines fared prominently in the areas of price competitiveness (24th), prioritization of travel and tourism (27th), and international openness (29th).
“We continue to see this in the figures of visitor arrivals that we have because from 2010, it has consistently been going up. At the end of 2014, we logged in 4,833,368 international visitor arrivals for the year,” Valte said.
Valte meanwhile acknowledged that more works still needed to be done as the Philippines continued to lag behind other countries in terms of ground and port infrastructure (93rd), and safety and security (128th).
“Tourism is not just the responsibility of the Department of Tourism, but also the responsibility of departments that have something to do with tourism, mainly the airports under the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications), and the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) for fixing roads that lead to tourist destinations,” she said.
She also mentioned that the national Tourism Oriented Police for Community Order and Protection (TOPCOP) program remains at work to make sure there is ample police presence in areas frequented by foreign visitors.
Other aspects where the Philippines needs improvement are environmental sustainability (122nd), health and hygiene (91st), and information and communications technology readiness (86th). (PNA)