Sunday, June 30, 2008
‘Slow’ infra hampers tourism growth - DOT
“NOW is the time, Philippines.”
This was the call made by tourism industry players during the three-day 2nd Philippine International Tourism Fair (PITF), a grand exhibit of the country’s tourism attractions, products and services.
The event, which opened last Thursday at the Cebu International Convention Center, was participated in by more than 100 exhibitors and several local and foreign buyers coming from the Asia Pacific, China, Europe, India, Japan, North America, Russia, South Korea and Australia, among others.
This is, for Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, a “resounding note of confidence” in Cebu and manifestation of the province’s tourism growth.
“Tourism is about the people—the welfare of the people who serve in it, the people who are being served and the people who work for it,” she said during the opening of the fair.
Hope
PITF 2008 chairperson Angel Ramos Bognot said that now is the time to work and be united. She expressed hope that foreign buyers will prioritize the Philippines after seeing what it can offer.
The event also highlighted the Travel Market Exchange (Tramex), a one-day business-to-business networking session between foreign buyers and local sellers of travel packages, which Tourism Secretary Ace Durano opened last Friday.
Durano, in a brief speech, said that while Philippine tourism is facing challenges, it is enjoying the support and results of activities, such as Tramex.
He later told reporters that the major challenge hampering tourism growth is the “slow construction pace” of infrastructure, such as roads and hotels, which he noted would take two to three years to complete.
He cited Sofitel Hotel (a property of the SM Group), Imperial Palace Hotel, and Microtel Inns and Suites Philippines as some of the major hotels expected to open in Cebu this year. The major hotel projects have a combined capacity of more than a thousand rooms.
Durano also observed that infrastructure development has not been able to keep up with increasing tourism-related investments and visitor arrivals.
“That is a reality we cannot change. If we hasten construction, there is possibility that output would be of poor quality.
Despite the demand out there for the Philippines, our tourist arrivals would still depend on how fast these infrastructure, whether public or private investments, will be put up,” he said.
Bohol Rep. Edgar Chatto, chairman of the House Committee on Tourism, reported that the country received 2.6 million tourists, earned P3.4 billion in tourism receipts, and generated 3.4 million jobs for the industry in 2006. These increased in 2007 when the country recorded three million tourists, P4.8 billion in tourism receipts and 3.7 million jobs.
“The Philippines should not miss the opportunities in tourism, which is an engine of growth and development. The House Committee on Tourism is studying and reviewing policies to sustain this momentum,” Chatto said.
He referred to the national policy for tourism that is expected to address issues on incentives for investors, tourist safety and security, and provision of adequate tourism budget, infrastructure and services.
Chatto authored the House bill while Sen. Richard Gordon, a former tourism secretary, filed a similar proposal in the Senate.
Durano, who had worked with Chatto and Gordon on the bill in the past two years, said the Department of Tourism is already implementing some of the bill’s features, such as hotel accreditation and incentive packages to local and foreign investors through tourism enterprise zones.
“Once the bill will be approved, it will institutionalize the efforts of the tourism sector,” he said.
As the bill is presently making its final rounds at the Lower House, Chatto said that proponents hope the framework will be approved before the country will host the United Nations World Tourism Organization meeting, to be held in Cebu from October 22 to 25, this year. (NRC)
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