Fil-Am Tourist Gets Warm Welcome for Being PHL’s 5-millionth Visitor

A lucky Filipino-American female tourist was welcomed by tourism officials at dawn on Monday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 for being the five-millionth person to visit the Philippines this year.

New York-based Gabby Grantham, 23, in an interview said that it was her second time in the Philippines and that the first time was when she was seven-years-old in 2000.

She further said that she planned to visit her mother’s side grandparents in Cebu. She was born to a Filipino mother and American father.

“I thought I was in trouble,” a surprised Grantham quipped, after being greeted by Department of Tourism (DOT) Asst. Sec. Alan Canizal and Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. She also received a bouquet of flowers.

She arrived at around 3:48 am via Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR103.

Grantham said that she plans to stay in the Philippines for around two weeks to explore Palawan, which will be a first for her. She has previously been in Cebu.

In a separate interview, Canizal revealed that Grantham will be receiving a package tour with hotel accommodation as a prize for being the five-millionth visitor in the Philippines.

When asked if there were similar rites to welcome the country’s 5.2-millionth visitor—which was the department’s yearend target—he said that next to be welcomed will be the sixth or seventh-million foreign tourist.

Bengzon, for his part described the welcoming of the fifth-million visitor as an event that is very “significant” owing to the amount of hard work put into achieving it.

“This milestone is a result of the collaborative and sustained efforts of all partners in tourism industry,” Bengzon pointed out.

However, Bengzon added that more important than the headcount is the motivation to push even harder.

“The fact that we have crossed the five-million mark is that we are already in the big league,” the DOT official said.

“This will allow us to compete more strongly against other destinations in the region. After the five-millionth mark the next will be tenth-million,” he added.

DOT is eyeing the country to have 5.2-million tourist arrivals by the end of the year and 10-million by 2016.

Currently, USA is the second top foreign market next to South Korea. (PNA) JMC/ANP