SAN FRANCISCO — There’s a new face for the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) “It’s more fun in the Philippines” campaign in this city.
The Philippine Consulate General here welcomed Purificacion Suanding-Molintas, a native of Baguio City, who arrived January 26 to take over the tourism attaché post previously held for nearly two decades by Rene de los Santos.
Molintas was introduced to the local media over lunch at Patio Filipino in San Bruno.
In an interview with Manila Mail, Molintas explained that De los Santos’ departure is “part of the reorganization the government is doing for the rationalization. I think all the government agencies are doing rationalization at hindi naiiba ang DOT [and the DOT is no different].”
Though Molintas has been to San Francisco four times, this is her first overseas posting. She has a term of three years, which could be extended for up to six years.
DOT has three offices in the US: SF, Los Angeles and New York City. The jurisdiction of SF includes the west of California, up north all the way to Canada, Alaska and a portion of the Midwest.
“Although we have our own jurisdiction, we have to coordinate closely with each other since the flights are interrelated among these three cities,” Molintas said.
DOT aims to bring in 10 million foreign tourists to the Philippines by the end of 2016.
“We’re about 60 percent right now,” she said. “But of course there are international challenges, issues that we have to hurdle.”
New markets
Opening up new markets would go a long way in reaching the DOT’s tourist arrival target, according to Molintas.
“The balikbayan is a very stable market,” she said. “[Overseas Filipinos] would always go home every now and then, but the new challenge for us now is to create new markets and new segments.”
The DOT is reaching out to neighboring countries like China, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan so that tourists from these nations will be inclined to visit the Philippines during their travels.
It’s not only DOT that contributes to the achievement of the target, according to Molintas. Other government agencies are expected to do their share in terms of ensuring that infrastructure such as airports and roads are ready for the tourist influx, along with the smooth flow of traffic through immigration and customs.
As such, DOT works closely with the public works and transportation departments, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the immigration and customs bureaus, to thresh out common concerns.
“So even if we have a high target, we also need the cooperation of other agencies. Right now, the Philippine government is working on 10 priority airports – hoping that with the improvement and the development of these airports, there will be other gateways that will be receiving whether domestic or foreign tourists to the Philippines,” she said.
Destinations
Molintas, who served as DOT regional operations director for many years, is a graduate of Saint Louis University in Baguio, part of the Cordillera region.
She admitted that this is also her favorite tourism destination in the Philippines. “I come from the Cordillera region and I was based there [for work].”
Cordillera is famous for the Banaue Rice Terraces. While it’s not easy to get there, Molintas assures tourists that it’s going to be worth their trip.
“There are other things that you can do there like trekking, skyrunning, marathon and cultural immersion,” she said.
Northern Luzon boasts another world heritage site: Vigan, which is also among the New7Wonders Cities of the world.
“You practically treat your trip as one destination kasi iisa lang yung kalsada na sinusundan mo doon [because there is just one road connecting the towns]. We can go around the islands. It is huge but you have a lot of tourist spots in Northern Philippines.”
When asked to comment about traveler’s safety, Molintas’ advice is to avoid those areas with challenges.
“Marami na ho kasi ang nagbago [Many things have changed],” she said. “Kung meron mang pangyayari [If there are incidents], these are in selected areas. Hindi naman ho sa buong Pilipinas yan [not the entire Philippines]. So you just have to avoid areas that have challenges. Hindi naman tumatagal ang mga ganyang insidente but malaki ang Pilipinas [Such incidents do not last anyway, and the Philippines is big] We are 7,107 islands, one can always choose the other islands.”
Molintas is urging overseas Filipinos to help encourage friends and families to visit the Philippines.
“Walang ibang tutulong, walang ibang magmamahal sa Pilipinas kundi yung mga kababayan din natin [No one else can help or love our country except our fellow Filipinos]. So I would always expect yung mga kababayan natin na sana magpatuloy tayong magpadala ng mga kaibigan, kamaganak sa Pilipinas para naman nabibilang yung mga kababayan natin sa ating listahan ng mga tourist arrivals. Napakalaki kasi ng impact na may mga kababayan na umuuwi sa atin [overseas Filipinos to keep on sending their friends and family over in order to shore up the tourist arrivals. The impact of returning Filipinos is huge].”