why tourists shy away from the philippines?

Question

I've been there, but I suspect many others are afraid to go once they've encountered some of the locals here in YAP who threaten/abuse them each time they make statement that sheds light on an unpopular but true reality of life in the Philippines. The prospective tourists start believing that the malcontents here are representative of the typical pinoy (of course they're not) but can you blame them?

Answer 1

According to your alter ego it has nothing to do with terrorism, kidnapping or be-headings.
Evidently the majority of possible tourists are not put off by the above three. What puts them off is us YAPPERS and the way we conduct ourselves especially whenever your name sake posts a question or answer.
GO figure.

Allan those figures from WOW mean nothing. What would a multimillion Peso Government body know when compared to our mr. WELL

Dave O I am smiling (wink wink)

Papars are you saying that because you work in the tourist industry you are qualified to negate what our mr. Well's claims to be the real reason for the tourists shying away from the Phils. Congratulations on what I consider to be a professionally written answer.

Answer 2

wow papars draws a long & grim but otherwise true picture of the state of philippine tourism.

& she is right, there are several more reasons why the local tourism industry isn't even at par with some of the country's next door neighbors.

but honesty, other than the fact of the peoples hospitality, a few world class beaches, spanish time heritage sites, & a few other unique things about the country, there is hardly anything else worth mentioning. most local pilipinos havent even toured the philippines yet, so they cannot even be good tour promoters.

but i will probably say potential tourists that shied away form the philippines after they visited YAP & read messages by yappers that threaten/abuse another yapper each time they make statement that shed light on an unpopular but true reality of life in the Philippines, isn't really correct.

but some would probably be turned off to see racial attacks & exagerated stories of terrorism especially if they dont mention the locales where these are happening & the fact that a majority of the other local places are relatively safe.

but to be in the safe side, all yappers must be aware that anything they post over here can be potentially read by anybody, any age, any culture in the entire world who have access to the web. so some sort of prudence is always wise. so in that regard, all yappers might be, at least, good representatives for any potential traveller to the philippines.

Answer 3

I don't think they shy away from the Philippines because they're (tourists) afraid; it's more like ignorance. They can't figure the Philippines out, most people do not even know it's in Asia LOL. Seriously, I think it's not such a popular tourist destination per US standard because the frigging Hollywood stars hardly come here and so no media exposure from the more popular entertainment/fashion magazines. If Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Matt Damon or any of those do-gooder Hollywood types start coming to the PI, I'm telling you, there'll be an upward surge of tourists from the US and Europe coming here.

Answer 4

The reasons are various but I would have to say mostly because of the travel advisory's. I also agree with Cherie, its just to much of a culture shock for most people.

I know that most europeans, ecspecialy the females, would break a leg trying to get away the first time they spotted a tic tic running up the wall, not to mention the fact that they would rather starve than eat food cooked by a street vendor or from one of the markets. A lot of european people have a fetish about what they consider cleanleness and so will turn their nose up when confronted with the simple living conditions of the average filipino. However, there are those europeans who were raised poor and wouldnt give the life style or living conditions a second thought.

Answer 5

I don't think it's that the Philippines are bad, it's just that people place other options higher than that. If you have a vacation that lets you travel overseas I think most people would pick the more popular spots like England, France, or Japan over the Philippines. Even if you were traveling just within the Asiatic area you still have more popular choices like Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc.

I personally think it's not so much that tourists are shying away from the Philippines, just that they probably have better choices, at least in their mind.

Answer 6

A lot of foreigners of different nationalities already live here in the Philippines. Just stay away from the South part of the Philippines (Mindanao), Manila and Cebu is a great place to be in!

Answer 7

Lolo Well, i wont make any comment on your statement.
But I agree with Cherie, the air pollution (smoke belching), dirty streets lined up with garbage, poor hygiene, budget hotels has no warm water and heavy traffic are turn off for tourists. Also, the location of Philippines is not ideal. They would rather skip Philippines since it involves a longer journey and those travel guides has a bad impression on our country (unsafe and boring).

Answer 8

Admittedly, the Philippines recieves lesser tourists than some of its neighbors in Asia such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia but this has little to do with what appears on Yahoo Answers- Philippines.

One of the main reasons for foreign visitors (excluding Filipinos holding foreign passports) giving a wide berth to the Philippines is the negative travel advisories posted by the US State Department and the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office on their websites and through different forums. These websites explicitly state the dangers that a foreign tourist, particularly from these two countries, could be prone to in the Philippines. And these advisories are also read by nationals of other countries. The US and Europe happen to be the main markets where the Philippines focuses its efforts on attracting tourists.

The other reason is wide publicity given in the local as well as foreign media to home-grown terrorism and epidemic outbreaks in the Philippines. A case to this point is: A week ago, my GF (Filipina) and I were watching TFC, a Filipino channel. Their news showed the outbreak of swine flu. Such negative news are quickly picked up by foreign agencies and any prospective tourist will definitely want to shun countries with a high health risk.

The tourism infrastructure in the Philippines is far from being satisfactory. Hotels are either top market or run-down. There are few properties where a middle budget traveler can stay. Restaurants serving foreign cuisine are rare and without exception, very expensive for tourists to dine daily. No tourist will tolerate fast food (McDonald's, Jollibee etc for long).

The Philippines also lacks a proper brand ambassador: Philippine Airlines is ailing unlike Thai Airways International, which represents Thailand " As smooth as silk". Or Malaysian Airlines and Malaysia (Truly Asia).

Diplomatic missions of the Philippines have little or no initiative to promote their country in major markets abroad, especially the Middle East, Russia and CIS as well as South Asia. Combine this with the paucity of funds to promote the Philippines as a tourist destination by concerned authorities in Manila, through various channels such as embassies and consulates, travel bureaus and TV commercials.

Tourism to the Philippines is bereft of any theme. Thailand is known for sex, Malaysia for culture. Vietnam has exploited the war with US in 1970s to draw curious American tourists. The Philippines harps on its 7000+ islands but how many tourists are interested in marine sports or beach holidays???

The Philippine tourism website: http://www.tourism.gov.ph is at best an apology of what a travel website should be. Check out: http://www.braziltourism.org which is a good example of what a tourism website should be.

And sadly, the Philippines has gained an image of cheap sex destination. A visitor who says he/ she is visiting or has visited the Philippines for a holiday usually draws sneers and smirks.

There are a lot more reasons but these are some of the main ones.

Answer 9

philippines is the best place to live, like the others said just stay away from the south. we live in cebu for more than a year never had a problem,,, the locals are very hospitable now we live in more rural but much nicer.

Answer 10

honestly, i don't think [some] tourists would survive very long in the philippines. it's very different there than it is in the states. some of my cousins can't even stand it. i know i can't imagine anyone at my school lasting more than a few days there. too much culture shock. the air, the garbage, the insects and geckos in bedrooms. it's just very different is all. i mean i've grown up with it, so i'm used to it. but places like england, italy, or japan just sound more appealing.