The Philippines Department of Tourism will receive from the government of Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency a $7.1 million technical assistance grant to help boost industry competitiveness from 2013 to 2016.

Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez said the Asian Development Bank will be the administering agency for the grant.

He said the grant comes at an opportune time when we need to scale up the development of tourism to meet 10 million international visitor arrivals and 56.1 million domestic travellers by 2016.

The record-high tourist arrivals registered by the Philippines in the first two months of the year has put the Tourism Department on track of achieving this year’s target of 5.5 million visitors. The projected record arrivals this year, however, will expose the government’s feeble attempt to match up with the demands of the rising number of foreign tourists.

Tourist arrivals in the first two months of 2013 surged 10 percent to 854,187 from 772,989 year-on-year, prompting Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez to predict another banner year for the sector. “Our tourism numbers are now reaching unprecedented heights. We have a target  of 5.5 million this year and 10 million by 2016,” Jimenez said in a recent statement.

South Koreans again posted the most number of tourist arrivals into the country with 241,116 in January and February. Other major sources of tourists during the two-month period were the United States, 120,868;  Japan, 73,621; China 69,610; Taiwan, 37,921; Australia, 34,095; Singapore, 25,800; Canada, 25,338; Hong Kong, 23,097; Malaysia, 18,947; United Kingdom, 18,563; and Germany, 13,774.

Hosting 5.5 million foreign tourists this year will not be an easy task. Tourists often complain about the poor state of the country’s airports, in particular the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City. Tourist destinations are not readily accessible due to the lack of feeder roads and the generally congested highways that lead to the visitors’ appointed place.