Philippines hopes for tourism boost after Google Street View launch

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, left, gestures as he talks beside a picture of Manila’s Jose Rizal monument during a speech in support of Philippine tourism in suburban Pasay, south of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday. Pic: AP.

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and tourism officials say images of the Philippine capital and the country’s main tourist spots on Google’s Street View could help attract more visitors to the country.

Google country marketing manager Ryan Morales said the Philippines on Wednesday became the 69th country included in Google’s Street View.

“If you’re going to capture imagery of an archipelago with 7,017 islands to share with the world on Google Maps, you’d better be prepared for the terrain that comes with it,” wrote Paul Kim, Google’s head of APAC device, content, and retail marketing in a blog post.

“Since we first hit the roads in the Philippines in January last year, we’ve taken our Street View camera on a real adventure.”

1 down, 7,016 to go. Do some Island hopping in the Philippines on #StreetView → http://t.co/GkleWlE77R pic.twitter.com/cyKphqC74j

— Google (@google) September 16, 2015

The images captured over six months last year include panoramic street views of Manila and 39 other cities, 30 historic and heritage sites as well as Pacquiao’s southern hometown where he began his career as one of the world’s most popular boxers.

Pacquiao says the images will bring the “wonders of the Philippines” to the world.

Rocked by insurgencies and poor infrastructure, the Philippines struggles to bolster tourism, which lags behind neighboring Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.