Saying that country can do better than seven million tourists, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara has urged the government to develop and promote alternative tourist destinations and to put in place the necessary infrastructure to support the industry.
“There should be more emphasis on new destinations. Infrastructure is really what’s holding us back. We can do so much better than 7.4-million tourists. Everyone knows that,” the senator said.
“Tourism is a very low-hanging fruit. But no matter how beautiful our promotions are, we cannot increase tourist arrivals until we resolve our airport problems,” Angara added.
He cited Sorsogon, Leyte, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga, Catanduanes and Siquijor, which are among the poorest provinces in the country, as potential tourist magnets.
By boosting the tourism industry, Angara said this would generate more jobs that could lead to poverty alleviation in these provinces.
Earlier, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the New Bohol International Airport in Panglao is almost complete, while the upgrading of the San Vicente airport in Palawan and Siargao airport in Surigao del Norte are now in the works.
Data from the Department of Tourism showed at least 6.6-million foreign tourists visited the country in 2017. Boracay and Cebu remained the top destinations last year.
For this year, the department is targeting 7.4 million foreign tourist arrivals.
Of the 10 member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines is ranked 6th in terms of foreign tourist arrivals, with Thailand securing the top spot at 32 million foreign tourists.
Puyat said despite the closure of Boracay, the number of tourist arrivals this year in the country is still growing. She said Boracay rehabilitation will be fully completed by December 2019.
Tourism accounts for 13 percent of the country’s total employment, with 5.3 million Filipinos working in the tourism sector.