PHL, S.Korea sign tourism cooperation agreement 

THE Department of Tourism (DoT) and South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism signed an agreement outlining their tourism cooperation program for 2024-2029, which will include an exchange of tourism-industry professionals.

In a statement on Monday, DoT said the deal that was signed on Oct. 7 at the Malacañang Palace and supplemented the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the two countries in 2006.

The tourism cooperation “will further enhance the longstanding relations between our two nations in tourism and people-to-people exchanges,” Tourism Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina G. Frasco said. 

“We anticipate this will increase demand for more Philippine destinations and tourism products from our number one source market, South Korea, and provide more opportunities for the economic advancement of our people, with the expected growth in our tourism numbers,” she added.

Under the agreement, both countries will exchange tourism professionals and administrators to exchange notes on practices in hotels, resorts, cruise ships, ports, tourism products, and other industries.

The MoU also allows for the exchange of information on tourism development, the establishment of tourism safety cooperation mechanisms, and contingency coordination.

The two countries will also organize joint promotions and marketing aimed at increasing the volume of tourist traffic and encouraging tourism investment.

Under the MoU, a joint working group will be formed to oversee the program.

As of Oct. 7, visitor arrivals from South Korea hit 1.23 million, or 27.16% of all foreign tourist arrivals. — Justine Irish D. Tabile