02/01/2025
𝗗𝗢𝗧 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳: 𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀
The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Wednesday (Jan 1) said that Japan's lowering of travel advisory levels to some parts of Mindanao is a welcome move for the country’s local tourism industry and will secure gains in terms of tourism revenue and livelihood generation in tourism-related industries.
This follows the advisory from Japan’s Foreign Ministry easing travel to certain areas in the Philippines among its residents recently.
According to the revised classification, the Davao region, composed of Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Occidental, was lowered from Level 2 to Level 1. These areas now join the cities of Mati, Tagum, Samal, Davao, and Digos, which remain at Level 1.
The Province of Misamis Oriental was downgraded from Level 2 to Level 1. Cagayan de Oro City, Jasaan, Villanueva, and Tagoloan have remained at Level 1.
In the Caraga Region, Surigao City, a component city of the provincial capital, was also lowered from Level 2 to Level 1, joining the Siargao Islands at Level 1.
While in the Soccsksargen region, the eastern part of Sarangani Province, which is Malungon, Alabel, Malapatan, and Glan was lowered from Level 3 to Level 2.
Level 1 travel advisory advises Japanese travelers to take extra care; Level 2 means refrain from traveling if non-essential and non-urgent; while Level 3 refrains traveling at any time.
As a response, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco shares her optimism in the lowering of the advisory levels.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘳-𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘡𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵-𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘰 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴,” Frasco said.
The Secretary noted that it would further boost the country’s tourism revenue, with partially estimated visitor receipts accounting for P712 billion from January 01 to December 15, 2024, representing a 119 percent recovery rate from the 2019 pre-pandemic numbers.
“𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘓𝘶𝘻𝘰𝘯, 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘰. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘖𝘛 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴,” she noted.
As of December 28, 2024, Japan ranks as the third country to deliver the highest tourist arrivals into the country, with 378,935 visitors. As one of the key tourism markets of the Philippines, the DOT, through its foreign and regional offices, is working together by luring Japanese travelers to visit Mindanao in particular by promoting Davao and Siargao Island to experience its gastronomy, culture, beach, and surfing scenes. In Northern Mindanao, the Japanese are fond of golfing, swimming, and diving; some also do birdwatching.
Among the efforts being done by the DOT to bolster revenue and arrivals for the tourism industry include the launching of the Philippine Dive Experience, a new tourism program to showcase the Philippines’ unparalleled underwater landscapes and promote sustainable diving practices that benefit local communities while safeguarding the nation’s natural marine heritage, and the Philippine Experience program, a cultural tourism program also piloted under the current administration that aims to promote the Philippines' culture, heritage, and arts through thematic and immersive tours.
