DAVAO CITY—An association of young Filipino Chinese entrepreneurs sees the tourism industry of Mindanao as the next business hub for interested investors.
Speaking with the media after the induction of officers at the Marco Polo hotel here, Anvil Business Club chairperson Wilson Lee Flores said there is a great opportunity for tourism businesses in Mindanao.
Flores said Mindanao has many different tourist attractions that can attract international tourists and a way that the Philippines can compete to other tourist destination around the world.
“From our point of view, Mindanao is one of the greatest places for tourism in the Philippines,” he said.
Flores explained there many untouched places in Mindanao that if developed can create a bigger economy for the entire country as it can compete to other international tourists’ attractions.
“Usually when tourists visits Philippines, they go to Metro Manila but hopefully in the future there will be more direct flight in Davao, Mindanao so the tourists can go easily. It will then be a good business opportunity for us,” he said.
He noted that once tourism will boost in Mindanao, more investors will come and invest in the Island and create a higher value added products for tourism and eventually export.
Once tourism will be developed and open for the public, a bigger picture can be seen for the processing industry in the entire island of Mindanao.
“In Taiwan, they have all kinds of pineapple and they packaged in a much better way creating a bigger business. We have more famous pineapple here that we can also market to tourist just like in Taiwan,” Flores added.
With the current peso-to-dollar exchange, Flores said that it can be beneficial for the country since the Philippines will be much cheaper for tourists.
“This will be a great opportunity to compete against Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia for tourist since Philippines is much cheaper,” he said.
He stressed that when people travel, there will be a bigger consumption since they will be spending every now and then and it can be a big help for the businessmen in the country.