Photo courtesy of the New7Wonders of Nature
MANILA, Philippines— A series of foreign ambassadors’ tours to the country has been organized by the Philippine Embassy in Singapore to help spread the campaign slogan that it is more fun in the Philippines.
The inaugural tour, led by Ambassador Minda Calaguian-Cruz and her husband, Luis Cruz, the country’s envoy to South Korea, was held in Puerto Princesa City from March 8 to 11. The visitors included the ambassadors to Singapore of Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Mexico, and Peru, as well as the former envoys to the Lion City of Mexico and Sri Lanka.
In coordination with the Department of Tourism and Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn, the group toured the Puerto Princesa Underground River, one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature; the Dos Palmas island resort on Honda Bay, and other attractions in the Palawan capital.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that “through the Ambassadors’ Tours, the embassy hopes to heighten interest in the Philippines as a travel destination among Singaporeans and other foreign nationals based in the island-nation.”
The DFA quoted Ambassador Minda Calaguian-Cruz as saying that “at least one job is created for every tourist who visits the Philippines. This means that if we reach the government’s target of raising tourist arrivals from 3.92 million last year to 10 million by 2016, we would be able to create six million jobs in five years.”
“This is not even counting the employment that can be generated indirectly from tourism,” Cruz added.
According to the foreign office, “future Ambassadors’ Tours are in the pipeline, including a tour of Donsol in Sorsogon, which is famous for its whale sharks, Cebu and Bohol, among other destinations.”