Category: News

Cherry, a 22-year-old graduate of Mass Communication from a Manila-based university, ended up working at a health club that is actually a high-class brothel in Quezon City. Unable to get a job for which she was qualified, she had dabbled in low-paying jobs to help support her family before finding her way to Quezon Avenue. Her desperation eventually led her to become a sex worker earning as much as P5,000 a night.

For the first time, the Philippines will have its own hotel rating system based on a global standard that will elevate the status of Philippine accommodation facilities.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said it has assessed over 700 tourism establishments in the past year and is poised to rate them under a new system ranging from one to five stars under the National Accommodation Standards (NAS).

AFTER sailing past troubled waters during the Asian financial crunch, Shemberg Marketing Corp. sees bright prospects in the years ahead with the improving prices of seaweed and carrageenan in the world market.

Benson U. Dakay, Shemberg's chief executive officer, is hopeful that the company's first year under an eight-year rehabilitation process in 2003, would start the resurgence of the local seaweed industry, to the benefit of thousands of farmers in southern Philippines.

Sky Pasada, owned by the WCC Aviation Co., is now flying passengers from Cauayan City in Isabela to Loakan airport in Baguio City, becoming the first commercial flight to the summer capital in three years.

International visitor arrivals in the Philippines rose 17 percent year-on-year in 2010, mirroring the growth in tourism in Asia during the year and marking a strong rebound from the global financial crisis that hit the region in 2008 and 2009.  On a monthly basis, December recorded the highest number of tourists at 393,585.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) expects its passenger volume to grow by more than a tenth this year as it aims for uninterrupted operations. “We are looking at 10 to 12 percent growth. The load factor of the flights is expected to improve," said PAL president Jaime B. Bautista.

Mr. Bautista refused to comment on ongoing talks between San Miguel Corp. and PAL majority shareholder Lucio Tan for a takeover deal.

PAL Holdings Inc., operator of PAL, posted PhP3.628 billion in nine-month losses, a reversal from PhP3.236 billion total comprehensive income recorded a year ago.

About PhP30 billion is being invested by the private sector in the tourism sector, strengthening the industry’s claim to be a new engine of growth for the economy, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

While the bulk of the investments is in Metro Manila, there are a rising number of investments in key tourism destinations such as Davao del Sur, Cebu, Zambales, South Cotobato, Benguet, Pampanga and Palawan.

JEST Camp in Subic Bay opened the Magaul Bird Park, the first bird park in Luzon.   JEST Camp General Manager Katrina Lacap said Magaul Bird Park aims to be recognized globally.   She said JEST Camp is one with the local government... Read More | Share it now!

Philippine Airlines (PAL) will start flying to New York City on 15th March 2015, according to a report by ABS-CBN. PAL Chairman and CEO Lucio C. Tan said the auspicious start of regular flights to New York will coincide with PAL's 74th founding... Read More | Share it now!

Microtel announced that its 13th and latest hotel property, Microtel by Wyndham UP Technohub, will have its grand opening in October 2014.   Microtel by Wyndham UP Technohub is located at the booming IT and commercial development of UP-Ayala... Read More | Share it now!