Although hailed as the country’s version of scenic New Zealand, traveling to Batanes remains a pain in the pocket for tourists. Which is why the Department of Tourism, headed by Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, is asking domestic airlines to augment their flights to attract more visitors to the island wonder.

Most travel vloggers say it is best to go to Hong Kong rather than Batanes in terms of cost as a round trip airline ticket to Batanes during the regular season costs approximately P12,000.

However, during peak season, especially Holy Week, it could go as high as P18,000 one way, either via Philippine Airlines (PAL) or Skyjet.

During a roundtable with DAILY TRIBUNE editors last Wednesday, Frasco said that while the DoT is currently equalizing all tourism opportunities across all regions, it could not be denied that some destinations, like Batanes, require very high fares considering their location and weather conditions, among other factors, to which the secretary agreed.

“We continue to collaborate with our domestic aviation partners, of course, Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, and present to them the concerns of our stakeholders. Chiefly, the governor of Batanes and I spoke to them, and that was her number one concern which we then relayed,” she said.

Just this April, PAL announced the restoration of flights from Clark International Airport (CRK) to Basco Airport, which means many passengers visiting Batanes will no longer need to change planes at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.

Single flights will bring PAL passengers from CRK to Basco, Batanes every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, budget carrier Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific has not yet announced additional flights to Basco Airport since they started flying domestic and international tourists to Batanes in 2018.

“I am hoping that with the additional fleet of Cebu Pacific, they would be able to make their pricing more competitive. And with the forthcoming additional fleet of Philippine Airlines in the latter part of 2025, I hope that it will improve,” the Tourism secretary said.

The Batanes group of islands is located at the northernmost tip of Philippine territory. It is known for its scenic waters, terrain and clean environment. Batanes is also recognized for the unique culture of the island’s first settlers, the Ivatan.

ASEAN collaborations

Frasco said that although there is tough competition among ASEAN counterparts in terms of attracting foreign tourists, she highlighted the country’s observation of its ASEAN counterparts as benchmarks for enhancing tourism.

“We recognize our neighbors in the ASEAN as models for how we can further improve Philippine tourism. We have forged engagements with our ASEAN neighbors in terms of ensuring that we get a share of their tourism arrivals as well,” she said.

She likewise noted that sustainable and responsible tourism remain the pivotal aspects of regional collaboration.

“We have found commonalities among us, which then encourages us as far as our growth and development, now that we see them not just as our competitors but as our collaborators,” she added.

Frasco said the DoT is strategically working with Thailand for a two-countries-one-destination arrangement.

“We are heavily pursuing the continuation of the Bangkok-Cebu flights, especially since diving is a very popular tourism product as well as English as a second language. We are coordinating with our other ASEAN neighbors as well, as we are very interested in joining the initiative to obtain one visa and be able to visit several ASEAN countries,” she said.

The liberalization of visa policies will entice more visitors to the country, primarily the Indian market, Frasco said.

In 2022, or when travel restrictions brought by the Covid-19 pandemic began to loosen, Thailand recorded the most number of inbound arrivals with 11.2 million, followed by Singapore with 6.3 million, Indonesia with 5.5 million, and the Philippines with two million.

The Philippines for this year is targeting 7.7 million foreign tourist arrivals.