Tourism provides income and creates jobs for many
economies in the world. Singapore, for instance, attracts foreign visitors two
times its population size while Hong Kong gets visitors four times the number
of its residents.
The Philippines, being detached from the Asian mainland
and an archipelago, does not get enough foreign visitors compared to its
neighbors in the region. Thus, while one can take land transportation from
Thailand to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, or from Malaysia to Singapore, it
cannot be done in the Philippines. One needs to fly from Manila to other exotic
islands and famous beach resorts like Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, Palawan, Davao and
so on.
Nonetheless, there is consistent growth in the Philippine
tourism industry, attracting nearly 5 million foreign visitors in 2014. (See
Table 1)
In terms of spending by foreign visitors and returning
Filipinos already based abroad, the Philippines received nearly $4.8 billion in
2014. It is not as big as what Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and other
neighbors receive but it is twice what the country earned a decade ago. (See Table
2)
Since we aim to attract more foreign visitors and guests,
it is important that infrastructure and logistical support are simple and
provide convenience to our visitors and returning Filipinos, especially
frequent travellers.
The airport transfer at the Ninoy Aquino International
Airport (NAIA) to different destinations is generally very inconvenient and
time consuming, especially with the on-going construction of skyways near and
around the four terminals.
Take the case of VJ, a Filipino expat for most of his
professional life who has been living in Singapore for three years now. His
work takes him to the entire Southeast Asian region, traveling at least 25% of
his time. He can fill one passport with stamps in an average of 1.5-2 years.
VJ flies from Singapore to Manila once or twice a month,
both for work and personal travel. At NAIA, he would normally take the yellow
airport taxi, whose rate is higher than regular taxis. Despite forking out
extra for the same service, VJ prefers the yellow cabs since the cars are in
better shape and the drivers are more professional.
Recently, the queue for the yellow cab has been longer
than usual, taking passengers one and a half hours before they get a ride.
Another option is to take the “Bayan ko” flat rate white
cabs. They cost more but at least the queue is more manageable, that is, if
cars are around. Typically, a trip from NAIA3 to Ortigas for a yellow cab is
around P275 and around double that amount for the white, flat rate taxi.
With the frequent heavy traffic around the airport, even
queueing to get white cabs takes 30-45 minutes.
Last Nov. 6 when VJ flew back home, he was ready to take
the white cab but saw that the line was extended, thinking that it would take
him one and a half hours to get a ride.
One lady asked him if he wanted a quick ride to Ortigas,
it would cost him P1,550, triple the price of the more expensive white,
flat-rate cabs.
Another lady approached him and offered a ride to the
same destination for P1,250. Because he was very tired, he took the bait.
The lady took him to Bay 1 of Terminal 3 and a white
sport utility vehicle hurriedly picked him up. An airport policeman or traffic
enforcer later hailed the vehicle but they were let go after a quick
conversation with the driver. The driver told VJ that the policeman is the
father of one of the female barkers. The driver then stopped and talked to one
of the barkers, telling her that he will “take care” of the enforcer later or
words to that effect.
Expensive rides, bad experiences at airport transfer
VJ is familiar with all the other airports in Southeast
Asia and swears that they are devoid of this kind of taxi scam. He tried Uber
before with good experience but for some reason, its signal is weak in NAIA3,
or they may have been blocked, or Uber cars refuse to ply NAIA3.
Among the quick and convenient airport transfer for
passengers would be different aircon buses or vans that will take passengers
from terminals 1-3 to Makati, Ortigas, Cubao, Manila, Alabang, and so on. Passengers
can get off at major hotels or take the ordinary taxi from those business
districts. This will significantly reduce the number of cars that go in and out
of the airport and hence, smoothen traffic flow.
If complicated, politicized, and bureaucratic franchising
system is not a factor, private players can easily field these buses or vans
and give faster and cheaper transportation for the passengers. But there could
be heavy politics and opposition lobbying at the Land Transport and Franchising
Regulatory Board and the Manila International Airport Authority as this new
scheme will adversely affect the taxi duopoly (yellow and white/flat rate) and
the third, “taxidap” scheme at the airport.
If this taxi duopoly plus taxidap scheme are kept for a
long time, then the Philippines will not get more foreign visitors as these
horrendous experience will be factored in by the tourists. It is safe to assume
that Cambodia and Myanmar will overtake the Philippines in attracting more
tourists by 2016 (see Table 1 again), if not this year.
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. heads Minimal Government
Thinkers, Inc., and is a Fellow of the South East Asia Network for Development
(SEANET).
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See also:
BWorld 26, IPRI 2015 in APEC economies, November 19, 2015
BWorld 26, IPRI 2015 in APEC economies, November 19, 2015
BWorld 27, The rich getting richer, the poor getting middle class, November 21, 2015
BWorld 28, Economic freedom in Asia, November 28, 2015
BWorld 29, Paris COP's emission cut targets vs. energy needs, December 06, 2015
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