TRAVEL consultants who will face a loss of income when their passport-processing rights are phased out are being encouraged to diversify their revenue streams.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which plans to open outlets in shopping malls for travellers to obtain and renew passports, allowed travel consultants to continue running passport-processing services until December 2012 and extended this deadline to June 30, 2013. Whether a second extension will be given is not yet known.
Passport processing can account for as much as 15 per cent of a small and provincial agency’s total business, especially when there is strong demand for such services by overseas Filipino workers.
John Paul Cabalza, president, Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), urged members to look for other sources of income, pointing out that due to online technology, opportunities for processing visas and other documentation were shrinking.
“Travel consultants can tap other sources of income, like from domestic travellers who are targeted to reach 56 million by 2016, inbound foreign arrivals to reach 10 million by 2016, and outbound travellers, which offer the potential of sale of European tours, cruises and niche markets,” he said.
CCT 168 Travel & Tours’ general manager, Ine Faustino, said her company had already started to focus less on passport processing since DFA required applicants to make personal appearances at .
However, she conceded that there would still be some who would continue to approach travel agencies for help, as “Filipinos like a personal touch”.
On the other hand, Michelle Victoria, president of the Quezon City Travel Agencies Association, said that such services were not the main source of income for many travel agencies.
She added that only four or five members in her association were accredited by the DFA for passport-related services.
