DoT to create an app for tourists so that they can have an “easier and convenient” way of booking travels.
The Department of Tourism (DoT) will produce a one-stop shop app to enable travelers have an easier accessibility in making bookings for their visits to the Philippines and other destinations.
“We will also create a tourist life cycle app which will serve as a super app that aims to connect tourists to accredited tourism establishments for accommodation, food, shopping, rides to accredited transportations, tour operators and tour guides.” Tourism Secretary-designate Christina Garcia Frasco told lawmakersduring the hearing for its 2023 budget.
The “super app” will expand upon the current Travel Philippines app created by the DOT's marketing division and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB). Travel Philippines was launched in October 2020 in order to help tourists, plan their vacations and get the most recent information on quarantine and alert levels in popular tourist spots, said a story from Business Mirror.
The app would provide the DoT with
“the needed data for tourism intelligence, specifically regarding tourism spending and length of stay of tourists in a destination. The app will also have a tourist support feature as well as an e-commerce platform showcasing Filipino products.”
The purpose of this new application is to make travelling to the Philppines as “easy and convenient” as possible.
DoT is currently working with the Department of Health (DoH), Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ), and Bureau of Immigration (BI) regarding the health and safety protocols of travelers.
“We have already proposed the improvement of the One Health Pass (OHP) to convert it into an e-arrival and e-departure pass so as to omit all the unnecessary questions, and warnings you had to contend with before coming into the country.” Garcia Frasco said
Travelers and citizens have been complaining about the time-consuming work of filling out the OHP, which occasionally produces a bar code and a QR code or just a bar code even when travelers uploaded their entire documents.
However, BoQ officials have said that the app wasn’t the problem but rather the travelers themselves.
1.35M international travelers arrived in the Phil.
The DoT Chief said that from February 10 to August 28, the Philippines have received 1.35 million international travels, making it hopeful that by the end of the year, arrivals would reach 1.7 million.
In a data from DoT, the total number of arrivals of foreign tourists made up about 68.3 percent (923, 322) while overseas Filipinos made up the remaining portion which is 429, 582.
The rest of the markets that made it to the top 10 are the following:
•United States – 257,508
•South Korea – 165,167
•Australia – 59,202
•Canada – 54,912
•United Kingdom – 52,782
•Japan – 45,411
•India – 24,084
•Singapore – 23, 273
•Vietnam – 22,201
•Malaysia – 20,293
There are also arrivals from Europe like Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, and Norway on the lsit of top 20 tourist markets for the period.
The Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving, the Intramuros Administration, the National Parks Development Committee, and the Office of the Secretary are among the organizations for which the DOT is asking Congress to approve its proposed P3.57 billion budget for 2023.
DoT is seeking the Congressional approval for its proposed budget of P3.57 billion for 2023. It covers the allocations of different organizations like the Office of the Secretary, the Intramuros Administration, the National Parks Development Committee, and the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving.
Tags: #DoT, #Tourists, #superapp