Attractive Destinations For British Tourists

The Philippines can still offer more attractive destinations for British tourists especially for bird watching and scuba diving, British Ambassador Peter Beckingham said. “You have wonderful resorts, wonderful tourist spots. There's still room for tourism growth,” Beckingham said in a press conference on Sunday at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel. The Ambassador said 700,000 to 800,000 British tourists come to Thailand every year while only 170,000 come to the Philippines. Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are top countries visited by British backpackers. But the Philippines tourist spots can still attract more British backpackers, Beckingham said. Beckingham cited the efforts of Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano to promote in London bird watching and scuba diving areas in the Philippines. Olango Island in Lapu-Lapu City and Nug-as Forest in the southern town of Alcoy are known bird-watching sites in Cebu that were featured with 11 other sites in the first volume of the book “Birdwatching in the Philippines.” The book was published by the Department of Tourism, Asian outdoor store Recreational Outdoor Exchange and the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

Cebu is also known for its dive sites which include Moalboal, Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan and Sumilon Island in Oslob. Beckingham also noted pristine beaches and good food as the country's positive tourist attractions. Meanwhile, Beckingham said British companies will continue to invest in renewable energy and business process outsourcing (BPO) in the country despite global economic downturn. He said investors from the United Kingdom had a recent meeting with Trade Secretary Peter Favila to discuss areas of cooperation on renewable energy. “Overall, we gave him (Favila) a positive picture. There is still confidence (from British investors) that the economy can develop,” Beckingham said. He said a total of $100 million will be poured in by these investors to fund renewable energy projects in the next two years.

He said Bronzeoak Philippines, a unit of Bronzeoak Ltd. of the UK, has developed the integrated bioethanol plant in Negros Occidental. Ethanol is a high-octane, water-free alcohol produced from sugar cane and other crops such as corn and cassava. It is used as a blending component in gasoline. According to Beckingham, BPO companies such as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) and Shell are expanding services in the country. HSBC has 6,000 workers employed for BPO work, while Shell has 3,000 workers in Manila. Smaller BPO companies are also opening offices in the country. These include Strategic Backoffice Solutions, which employs 2,000 people. Beckingham said he will also give a presentation to 200 companies from the UK by the end of this month detailing possible investment areas they can enter. Beckingham said business confidence of UKCebu. These companies include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Prulife UK, Body Shop, Marks and Spencer and Speedo which have branches in Cebu.