PHOTO: Could the Philippines emerge as a major new cruise destination? Pictured is the town of Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Could the Philippines become the next big cruise destination? It could — the nation consists of more than 7,000 islands, after all, located near some of the world’s fastest-growing cruise ports. And the country’s tourism and government officials are making no secret of their desire for more cruise business.

The country’s ambassador to the U.S., Jose L. Cuisia Jr., recently met with executives of the three largest cruise companies — Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Norwegian Cruise Line — to discuss adding the Philippines to their itineraries.

“The cruise giants were open to working with the Philippines in destination development while they discussed infrastructure requirements,” Cuisia said in a press statement.

His timing is good — cruise lines are aggressively expanding in Asia, and the archipelago is in the western Pacific Ocean not far from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Already the 7,000-island nation is seeing progress, although not as quickly as its neighbors. Last year, 16 cruise ships visited the Philippines, up from 10 in 2011. Passenger arrivals numbered close to 20,000 passengers in 2013, a 48 percent increase over 2011, according to statistics posted on the government’s tourism website.

“We are expecting some 18 cruise ships this year that should bring in more than 20,000 tourists,” Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr. said at a recent cruise industry workshop organized by CLIA-Asia and the country’s department of transportation and communications.

“Our country’s proximity to major cruise source markets like China, Japan, and Hong Kong positions us at a competitive and comparative advantage in the Asia-Pacific region. This should give industry stakeholders greater prospects and our local communities new jobs and opportunities,” he said.

Among those attending the CLIA workshop in the Philippines earlier this month were William Harber, vice president for market development for Carnival Corp. in Asia, and John Tercek, Royal Caribbean’s vice president for commercial and new business development.

The Philippines is working to further develop the tourism and transportation infrastructures to entice more cruise ships, and to grow what is now a niche market. “Preparation is absolutely essential,” Jimenez said. “And that is what this workshop precisely calls for — to formulate a national cruise development plan that will chart the Philippines’ role in the cruising business in Southeast Asia.”

Meanwhile, in Miami, Ambassador Cuisia highlighted notable port-of-call possibilities in the Philippines, particularly Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“Established in the 16th century, Vigan is the best-preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia,” according to UNESCO. “Its architecture reflects the coming together of cultural elements from elsewhere in the Philippines, from China and from Europe, resulting in a culture and townscape that have no parallel anywhere in East and South-East Asia.”

Cruise lines are already very familiar with the Filipino people. The three largest companies together employ 61,700 Filipino crew members.

“They have nothing but high praises for their Filipino crew. They told us that service is in the Filipino genes,” Cuisia said. “Carnival officials even commented that their company will not be what it is if not for their wonderful Filipino crew.”