MOSCOW, Russia - For the seventh consecutive year, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) participated in the Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT) 2019 at held at the Expocentre in Moscow, Russia.

A DOT official said the Philippines has seen an increase in the number of tourist arrivals due to its level of promotion in Russia and other countries.

“Last year, ang dumayo ay 7.1 million, ito po yung pinakamataas natin sa buong kasaysayan ng turismo at ‘di po tayo humihinto doon kasi kami ay nagta-target na for this year ay siguro po 8.3 million [tourist] ang pupunta sa atin, sa lahat-lahat na po ‘yon,” said DOT assistant secretary Roberto Alabado, III, head of the delegation.

(Last year, there were 7.1 million tourist arrivals, the biggest in the history of tourism, and were not stopping there. For this year, we are targeting around 8.3 million tourists.)

Alabado, however, stressed the need to strengthen existing relations to ensure the continued growth of the tourism sector between the Philippines and Russia.

“We are in the top 10 destinations ng mga Russians. Napakaganda po ng ating mga dive spots at kaunting push na lang para tumaas ang kanilang interest na pumunta sa Pilipinas,” added Alabado.

(We are in the top 10 destinations of Russians. Our dive spots are beautiful and we only need to boost their interest in coming to the Philippines.)

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The tourism department is continuously promoting more islands and tourist destinations like Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Davao, and the Banaue Rice Terraces.

Around 6 tour operators, private companies, and representatives of best hotel chains in the Philippines, including the flag carrier, joined the exhibit in Russia from March 12 to 15.

The DOT hopes private airline companies in the Philippines would be open to exploring the possibility of flying direct to Moscow.

“Para po sa DOT, sana po ang mga private companies [airline] ay makapag-isip po ng paraan na magkaroon na sana ng flight mula Moscow-Pilipinas. Kasi, sabi po ng mga Ruso ay kung mas madali lang pumunta sa Pilipinas ay siguradong mas marami pang pumunta [Pilipinas].

(We hope that more private companies would think of ways on how to open direct flights from Moscow to Philippines. Russian tourists say that if it was only that easy to go to the Philippines, then more tourists would surely come to visit.)