PHILIPPINES: Philippines Boosts Tourism After A Successful 2015,

This has been a good year for tourism in the Philippines. In the first eight months of 2015, tourist arrivals increased by almost 10 per cent.

The APEC summit hosted by the country in November also boosted the figure considerably. Tourist numbers during the APEC week reached more than 11,000, exceeding the Government’s target of 10,000 visitors.

The integration of ASEAN nations into a single economy is also projected to boost tourism in the region, as travel restrictions among member states will be eased. Figures from the Department of Tourism show that the Philippines now ranks fifth among ASEAN's ten member states - coming in behind Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

In order not to play catch up, plans are underway to boost the country's reputation as a favoured destination, and part of it includes improving open-sky policies.

"We’re still getting some of the signatories for some of the open sky policy for the border control uniformity of the border control,” said Aileen Clemente, President Philippine Travel Agencies Association. “The whole idea is to ensure a seamless way to travel across ASEAN and the advantage is that we would be able to attract more tourists who see ASEAN and its different countries as one destination."

A major issue holding back development of tourism in the Philippines is infrastructure. The capital’s main Ninoy Aquino International Airport held the title of the world's worst airport from 2011 to 2013. It lost its title only after major renovation was carried out, but the airport is still ranked eighth worst in Asia.

Tourism officials are also pushing through plans to upgrade the country's provincial airports, the gateways to islands such as Palawan and Boracay. Adventure tourism for activities such as diving are being looked into.

Undersecretary of Tourism Development, Benito Bengzon, said the Department of Tourism has been studying the country's marine sanctuaries to help it find ways to preserve dive sites and promote eco-tourism.

"Specifically we continue to focus on the diving market and we feel that the Philippines, because of its 7000 islands, can be very competitive in this particular segment as the entire country is practically within the so called coral triangle,” said Mr Bengzon.

The Department of Tourism projects that by year's end, around 5.2 million foreign visitors will visit the Philippines in 2015. The figure is considerably lower than the target of 10 million foreign visitors the Department aims to attract in 2016.

It admits that having to boost tourist numbers by almost five million people within a year will take some doing, but it is looking forward to the boost that ASEAN integration will bring.