Duterte gov’t to invest $23B in tourism infra

A part of the Duterte administration’s investments will be devoted to infrastructure for the tourism industry, to support it as a major engine of growth for the Philippine economy.

In a statement, Finance Undersecretary Grace Karen Singson said that under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP), the Philippines would invest $23 billion in tourism infrastructure starting now until the President’s term ends in 2022.

Regionally competitive

This plan aims to make the sector “not only sustainable and highly competitive in the region, but also socially responsible to propel inclusive growth,” she said.

Singson said the proposed NTDP investments cover road networks, airports, ports for cruise ships, railways, site infrastructure, tourism enterprise zones, transport units, accommodation facilities and aircraft acquisition.

Under the NTDP, the government aims to build up to 2,620 kilometers of tourism roads over the next six years, from a baseline of 900 kilometers, which will require an investment of $2 billion.

Access roads

“As many renowned tourist sites in the Philippines, such as the Banaue rice terraces, the Chocolate Hills and Mt. Apo require long road travel, the tourism development plan has also included the upgrading and construction of access roads to tourism sites and tourism development areas,” Singson said during the recent 11th Asean Finance Ministers’ Investor Seminar in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Intra-Asean

Singson, the Undersecretary of the Department of Finance for privatization and special concerns, represented Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III at the forum.

She pointed out that, as an Asean member, the Philippines can benefit from the regional bloc’s actions towards greater connectivity, especially in terms of air and sea travel, as well as improving travel facilitation, such as the full implementation of the Asean lanes.

At the same time, the high level of intra-Asean tourism, which accounts for 47 percent of visitors in the country, “provides the opportunity to harmonize Asean tourism quality and standards that could be a precursor to developing an ‘Asean brand’ that the region could roll out to the global tourism market,” Singson said.

Integral to admin agenda

According to Singson,  developing the tourism industry is integral to the Duterte administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda as this sector is the third biggest contributor to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

It accounted for five million jobs in 2015, mostly in the areas of transport and hospitality services, representing 12.7 percent of the country’s total employment.

This 10-point agenda provides for accelerated spending in infrastructure from 3 percent to over 5 percent of the GDP, “and we believe this will be a boost to tourism infrastructure,” she said.