CRUISE Lines International Association (CLIA) and the Philippines Department of Tourism (DoT) have committed to cooperating for a more robust cruising environment in the Philippines, offering education initiatives for the trade and strategic insights.
The two organisations organised the Philippine Cruise Industry Workshop held at the Makati Shangri-La last week, during which CLIA outlined the Philippines’ top priorities for the industry.
According to a DoT statement, these include streamlining entry requirements and addressing passenger mobility, creating a smooth but safe tourist experience of cruise travel, developing and expanding port infrastructure, and implementing strategic cruise itinerary planning.
CLIA has also identified five to six ports that will be central to leveraging infrastructure investments to meet cruise tourism demand, after inspecting the ports of Manila, Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Caticlan and Subic, and meeting local port authorities.
The DoT statement also indicated growing demand for non-traditional cruise destinations such as Kalanggaman Island in Leyte and Hundred Islands in Pangasinan, providing another avenue for potential development.
The cruise workshop was first mooted on the sidelines of this year’s ASEAN Tourism Ministers Meeting in Kuching, Malaysia and realised with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development under its Advancing Philippine Competitiveness Project.
Commenting on the potential for cruise tourism in the Philippines, tourism secretary Ramon R Jimenez, Jr, noted that cruise arrivals to the country shot up 48 per cent between 2011 and 2013, with 20,000 cruise calls last year.
“We are expecting some 18 cruise ships this year that should bring in more than 20,000 tourists. Our country’s proximity to major cruise source markets like China, Japan, and Hong Kong positions us at a competitive and comparative advantage in the Asia-Pacific region. This should give industry stakeholders greater prospects and our local communities new jobs and opportunities,” he said.
