...The reason why they can afford the fancy schmancy stuff is because airfare (from major US cities) is dirt cheap to any Caribbean, Mexican, Belizean, and Bahamas destinations. Also, travel time is kept to a bare minimum given the limited time they have for vacations. So their expenses just even out. ...
It seems to me you have kind of answered your own question in a lot of ways here. It seems to me that if there are multiple destinations with similar experiences, most people will pick the closest, easiest and cheapest (based on what they want, of course). It much harder to get to the Caribean or Mexico from, say, Innsbruck or Berlin, or even Sydney, than, say, Austin or Minneapolis. Really, it isn't like the yanks don't have good diving available. they have Florida, San Diego and Hawaii (to name just a few) in their own country. You really do need to offer something special to entice these people to visit SE Asia. And, of course, there are the additional problems of then getting them to consider PI...
The thing is that if we can increase the number of visitors from North America then it would be great for our tourism industry. We are already heavily promoting tourism in Europe, might as well use the same formula and try to attract visitors from North America. Doesn't really hurt to do it.
Phil
Phil, I have to ask.. how often do you go to PI, and have you been to the place a tourist may visit? Not 8 or 10 years ago, but within the last 3 - 5 years? My question is why does it HAVE to be the Us tourist? why not Russians? The new money in Eastern Europe? Even the Aussies?
Thanks to our location, we are pretty much prime candidates for visiting your country - our $ is worth money too... We have no borders with any nation, and it costs about $500 - $700 to fly to the nearest pacific island, It is possible to get to Manila for $850 if you try hard enough.
Just seems to me you are obsessed with the American tourist, and yet are almost totally ignoring other potential markets that can bring in just as much income and development.
Having said that, I like visiting PI BECAUSE of the lack of development, I kind of like staying in a place where electricity is only available for 10 hours a day, and the internet is only avaiable from a solar powered net cafe located in a school a 30 minute walk away. Where I can dive with me and my girlfriend, and see no one else but the DM on the dive. I'm talking, of course, of places like Cabilao, and, to an extent, Malapascua, not so much the PG's and Boracays.
Maybe the tourist you should be promoting PI to is the one who would otherwise go to Nepal to hike through the Himalayan valleys, or the ones who want to trek through the forests of Borneo. The ones with a bit of a lust for adventure and to go to places that aren't developed.
When I went to Cambodia, I loved it because I felt like I was walking into an Indiana Jones movie, some parts of PI make me feel like Jacques Cousteau. Sell it to people who want to live the adventures of their heroes. I think you get my point.
And finally, I wouldn't really bother so much with the sort of person who is stressed about terrorism or instability. The sort of person who is not capable of finding out the truth for themselves about the actual risks, is also the type who wont take responsibility for themselves,and those types tend not to appreciate countries like PI.
It seems like you are kinda of targeting the "Pod People" tourists, you know.. the cruise ship types. The types who go to a tropical destination and then close the windows and blinds and sit in the room with the air con on the whole time. They will venture out of their room for a few minutes a day to buy a burger and fries, and to by the trinkets that were made in China in the souvenir shop. then back to th air con room to drink Coke and watch Baseball on cable. They are unwilling to immerse themselves in the local culture, food and the new experiences that can be had.
Anyway I'll stop there, Maggie says I'm writing a novel...
Z...
), the bats flew over the entire island when the sun set, and aside from the resorts the only form of entertainment I saw was a pool table underneath an open nipa hut. This was back in the 1989 when Club Panoly was newly built.
