The Department of Tourism (DOT) will embark this year on a massive tourism campaign to boost further tourist arrivals in the country, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said.

He said the DOT will concentrate on three key factors, namely

• the volume of tourist arrivals,
• the length of stay of the tourists in the country, and
• their average daily spending while in the Philippines.

Durano has projected tourist arrivals to increase by eight to 10 percent “year on year.”

Based on this projection, about three million more tourists are expected to visit the country this year, he said. Last year, the three million tourists who visited the country contributed $4.88-billion to the economy.

Durano added that the tourism industry did not only meet its 2007 “quota” but even overshot DOT’s 2010 income target by about $8 million and is expected to generate an additional revenue of $1 billion for the government this year.

Durano also expects more visitors, specifically those from colder climes such as Europe, to spend more time in the Philippines to enjoy the summer months.

DOT is likewise “packaging” higher value services which the tourists are likely to patronize.

Meanwhile, Bohol’s tourism agenda continues to attract both foreign & domestic tourists to the province. The number of arrivals kept increasing annually that has greatly boost the economy of the province.

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