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| ▲ This photo, shows the Tourism Secretary for the Philippines, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat in the meeting answering questions. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, shows the Tourism Secretary for the Philippines, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat opening a press conference. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Mar. 30 (Yonhap) -- On the 30th, the Tourism Secretary for the Philippines, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, who visited South Korea, said, "A new day has come, just like the song 'Spring Day' by BTS", hopefully expecting that the Philippine tourism industry would be able to take a leap forward.
At a press conference held at the Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul on the 30th, Tourism Secretary, Puyat revealed her vision for tourism in the Philippines for the post-pandemic era and introduced a small region in Cebu, Bojo, which has been selected as the 'Best Tourism Village' by the World Tourism Organization.
Bojo has recently gained attention through its rivers and hills, natural aquatic resources, mangroves, algae and the eco-cultural tours managed by the ecotourism organization (BAETAS).
Tourism Secretary Puyat also announced that the World Tourism and Travel Association (WTTC) General Assembly will be held in Manila, Philippines from the 20th to the 22nd of next month.
Additionally, she added that 90% of the people in the major tourist destinations are vaccinated.
Tourism Secretary Puyat, who is also a fan of K-Culture, specially mentioned, "I am very happy to visit the hometown of the BTS members. I'd like to greet on behalf of all the Filipino ARMYs (BTS fans)."
She also expressed her gratitude to K-Culture, saying, "Many Filipinos depended on Korean entertainment shows including Korean dramas and music to overcome the difficult time of the pandemic."
The meeting, which was the first large-scale event of the tourism industry after the open borders, was attended by about 100 people from the industry.
Philippines is one of the favorite travel destination for Koreans. In fact, in 2018, before the outbreak of COVID-19, Koreans were ranked first among the visiting population in the Philippines as 1.58 million people, which estimates to 24% of the country's visitors were Koreans.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Haemin Kim.)
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