THE commencement of Air Canada’s new nonstop flights between Vancouver (YVR) and Manila next April is expected to be a game changer for the tourism industry, helping boost visitor arrivals from North America.
“This has been in the works from many years. We are glad that it’s finally pushing through. North America is still an opportunity market and this added access can only increase visitor arrivals from that market,” said Rajah Tours Philippines president Jose C. Clemente, in a message The BusinessMirror.
“That said, we can only capitalize on this opportunity if the appropriate marketing resources are allocated to it. If we want to sustain these flights, we must be able to generate passenger traffic to and from the Philippines,” he stressed. Rajah Tours organizes the annual Winter Escapade tour for Filipino-Canadians for the Department of Foreign Affairs, an offshoot of the latter’s popular Ambassadors, Consuls General, and Tourism Directors Tour (now called the Very Important Pinoy Tour) launched in 2005. The VIP Tour now primarily targets overseas Filipinos from the United States. (See, “‘Strategic expansion’ | Air Canada to fly direct Vancouver-Manila starting April 2, 2025,” in the BusinessMirror, December 6, 2024.)
In 2019, arrivals from Canada reached 238,850 making it the seventh top source market for tourists in the Philippines. From January to November 30, 2024, data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed arrivals from Canada at 195,549, putting it in sixth place. In turn, Filipinos traveling to Canada reached 119,809 from January to November 30, 2024.
Fam tours for Canadians
Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Chief Operating Officer Maria Margarita Montemayor Nograles also welcomed the new Air Canada (AC) direct flights between Vancouver and Manila. “I am excited that the new AC flights will help boost bookings to the Philippines since air connectivity is one of the major considerations for long-haul travelers,” she told this reporter. The TPB is the marketing arm of the DOT.
Speaking to marketing concerns, Nograles stressed, “Our work program next year focuses on familiarization tours in partnership with Travello Travel Group, Canada’s leading host agency servicing nearly 1,000-plus travel professional throughout Canada.” The Travello Travel Group has consistently won awards from world-renowned travel brands and tourism boards, one of which is the Circle of Excellence from AC.
“Through this familiarization trip we aim to provide Canadian agents with first-hand experience what the country can offer as a tourism and MICE (Meetings Incentives Conventions Exhibitions) destination to help them develop and enhance tour packages that they can offer to Canadian travelers,” she added.
The Philippines will also attend the annual International Tourism and Travel Show (ITTS) in Montreal, Canada in November next year, said the TPB chief. ITTS is mostly attended by mainstream Canadians, particularly the French-Canadians, a market TPB wants to expand beyond the regular Filipino-Canadians who make the regular balikbayan trips. “This year we did very well at the ITTS. We generated over P662.22 million in sales leads this year,” said Nograles.
PAL unfazed
According to Canada’s census, there are some 958,000 Canadian residents of Filipino descent as of 2021. The Philippines is the third largest source of immigrants for Canada after India and China, official data sources show. Most Filipino-Canadians live in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Montreal.
Meanwhile, flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is unfazed by AC’s announcement: “Philippines-Canada is a strong and growing market where PAL is the market leader,” said president and chief operating officer Capt. Stanley Ng. He was confident “the market will accommodate both carriers…. Generally, the Filipino diaspora in Canada has been growing, and more Filipinos travel to Canada to visit family or tour Canadian cities — significantly aided by the easing visa restrictions for Filipinos.”
The carrier flies MNL-YVR daily, and MNL-Toronto, three times weekly, or a total 10 times weekly, and connects passengers beyond Vancouver to “interior points in Canada” via WestJet and AC.
Image credits: Modfos | Dreamstime.com
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Publish date : 2024-12-10 00:15:00
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