I have seen reports on TV that local or international travel carriers such as a plane and sea ferry have promotional wars. They offer almost half the usual plane and boat fare just to encourage people to travel. As we all know with the world current financial crisis, travel companies anticipate that there will be travel budget reduction as people will priorities other important things than to travel.

Commonly, the Japanesse, Koreans, and American are the top tourists who are visiting the Philippines but since Japan and America suffered a lot from the recession they expect international occupancy rates to drop. That’s why the government will maximize local  tourism so that tourism industry will not be so harmed by this recession.

Although in the long run, this promotional wars will benefit consumers or travelers themselves. Hopefully travel agencies will not compromise their service quality with this. We know that there are already travel discounts and promos such as fare reduction promos by some airlines but if you will add some additional fees and insurances it can turn out that you are just paying the same. Passengers will still have to pay airport fees, travel insurance unless he or she is lucky to obtain their travel insurance online .

Tourism is a big industry. If we could make it much better this is a big help to spur economy. We are also hoping that the Tourism Department and the local government be responsible for preserving the tourist spot destination of the country. Hope they give due importance to their tourism management to attract more tourists and not just be after the income. They must put some development that will make tourists visit again and not discourage them because of some bad experience they have. I have bad experiences during my last visit to the premier destination of the country such as Boracay and Puerto Gallera. Maybe on my next post I will share those experiences I have had