PH tourism faces infra challenges —DOT chief

The Philippine tourism industry faces infrastructure challenges, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said on Thursday.

Frasco made the observation amid the department's conduct of the Philippine Experience Program in Region 12 or SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos), a caravan that highlights emerging tourist destinations’ local tradition, culture, heritage, on top of natural resources such as beaches and mountains.

“The challenges that the Philippine tourism industry faces is not only on the aspect of promotion but on the basic developmental pillars of tourism, first of which is infrastructure,” Frasco said in a Bagong Pilipinas interview.

“That is why the President’s priority is to construct tourism roads all over the country,” she added.

The Tourism chief said that the Marcos administration has allocated P5 billion for the construction of new tourism roads and P10 billion for continuing roads for 2023 alone.  She added that over 158 kilometers of tourism roads have been constructed since Marcos, Jr. assumed office on June 30, 2022.

“Those [efforts] include us touching base with the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Transportation department in terms of the addition of critical bridges throughout the country,” she said.

On top of roads, Frasco said the government is also working on improvements of airports and seaports, as well as aggressively pursuing public-private partnerships in doing so such as the looming San Miguel Corporation takeover of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). 

Frasco, however, said that the upgrading does not stop at NAIA.

“We are also very pleased to note that the improvement in our airports all over the country are forthcoming especially in Mindanao, specifically Laguindingan which is the access to Cagayan and Bukidnon; and for Bohol, which give accessibility to our well-renowned UNESCO geopark, the Chocolate Hills. We are also looking forward to the further expansion of the Palawan Airport in Puerto Princesa,” Frasco said.

“And we’re eager to see the commencement of construction of our new cruise ports all over the Philippines under the auspices of the Philippine Ports Authority. And since the country is surrounded by water, the other challenge is connectivity. That is why we’re working very closely with the Department of Transportation for an increased number of direct flights to the Philippines,” Frasco added.

Frasco said that in 2023, the Philippines posted P482 billion worth of international visitor receipts.

“We are undergoing this era of transformation for Philippine tourism so we can expand livelihood and employment opportunities for our people,” she added.—LDF, GMA Integrated News