BRIGHTER prospects lie ahead for tourism in the Philippines, if developments of regional airports continue with other infrastructures and attractions with the incoming Duterte administration, a hospitality consultancy firm based in Thailand said.
C9 Hotelworks Founder and Managing Director Bill Barnett told the BusinessMirror tourism in the country remains underdeveloped, yet, there is still room for improvement to reach its full potential.
He said regional airports could bring more foreign visitors to the country, and drive developments in road and water transport, travel facilities and unique tourist attractions.
“You can’t stay there if you can’t get there,” Barnett said, while noting easy access to the island-nation’s manifold tourists spots remains a challenge as infrastructures, especially airports, are lacking in the regions.
Barnett, who also advises on hotel developments, said in their report Boracay and Palawan in the Visayas as two popular tourists destinations, which require airport expansions for greater mobility outside, within and among the provinces.
At present, most tourists rely on the distant larger Kalibo International Airport in Aklan as a mainstream point of access.
The nearby aviation facility, Caticlan’s Godofredo P. Ramos Airport, could turn into a gateway to international flights to prevent planes flying through the heavily populated Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, he said.
The increasing arrival of Chinese visitors in this tropical island, which ranked seventh last year among the world’s top beaches in web site TripAdvisor, has called for more runways to link it with the rest of Aklan, Barnett said.
Aside from the proposed 1,800-meter runway at the Caticlan Airport and a larger passenger terminal to be added within the next two years, an affiliate of San Miguel Corp. is looking for other expansion projects to accommodate the arriving tourists.
Ayala Land Inc., another property giant, which owns several resorts in El Nido, Palawan, has welcomed the acquisition of an airliner and an additional flight from Cebu to the resorts island.
Other resort and property developers are closely watching San Vicente in Palawan, where a new airport has been developed in cooperation with the Philippine government’s Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority
Discussion is ongoing with different operators to determine a private-sector approach to service commercial operations and as such remains a work in progress.
Barnett also sees other underdeveloped infrastructures as a major hindrance to tourism. Even with the airports, he said the government and the private sector must look into other transportation modes leading to various attractions and establishments in the regions to carry people around efficiently.
“If you built an airport in Manila, you would have to be able to build a high-speed railway to get people back and forth,” he said.
Barnett also said more toll roads and trains could save people from heavy traffic and provide transport alternatives to people with cars.
“You have to look at other infrastructures; the people who work there by cars, by bus, by other means, as well plus cargo,” he said.
With these transportation infrastructures, real estate emerges along with the utilities installations for water and energy.
“We are seeing a new wave of leisure-property-driven projects, such as Sheraton in Cebu, Anya Resort and Residences in Tagaytay, and Bicol’s ultraluxury Ugen Island starting to attract global attention and bode well for airlift fundamentals,” he said.
But even with these physical attributes for more integrated infrastructure projects, the country’s tourism is dragged by its political climate of abandoning development plans as the administration changes.
“To build an airport doesn’t take five years or six years when you have one president; it takes a decade. So you need political will to continue…every five years we see ‘master plans,’ but we don’t see much completion of that,” Barnett said.
Unlike Hong Kong and Singapore, he said the Philippines has always integrated politics and tourism, which halts and limits infrastructure constructions to airports.
According to the World Economic Forum Competitiveness Index of 2014-2015, the Philippines ranked 95th in overall quality of infrastructure compared to Hong Kong, which stood second. Singapore stayed close to top at fifth place.
In airport infrastructure quality, the country also fell behind at 108th compared to Hong Kong, which claimed the third spot. Singapore topped the list.
The top executive said proper zoning and planning, which distribute activities among particular areas, could also help diversify tourism attractions and control the volume of tourists in the country’s most famous destinations, especially the beaches.
The recent pronouncement of President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte, that building infrastructures is among the top priorities of his administration, is a welcome development for Barnett.
International visitors want to have various tourism experiences.
“In Thailand, people come for the marathon; Singapore has the Formula One racing; here, you have street-food festivals,” Barnett said.
Given this, he said finding the “right products or what makes the people come back” is the key to sustained tourism growth.
Apart from promoting natural wonders and beach destinations, he said the local tourism sector should also bank on other complementing products within the site.
For instance, he cited wellness as an attractive component, especially for more long-staying visitors, like the Chinese travelers.
These tourists, he said, is a big potential market worldwide that the country should tap further to help reach the industry’s target of 6.5 million foreign tourist arrivals this year.
Based on data from the Department of Tourism (DOT), the total visitor arrivals in 2015 reached 5.36 million, registering an increase of 11.67 percent over the arrivals in 2014.
For the first quarter of this year, tourist arrivals already reached 1,602,253.
From January to March, the country’s tourism increased by double digit at 13.17 percent in January; 20.42 percent, February; and 11.86 percent, March.
These tourist arrivals generated a revenue of about P67.74 billion.
South Koreans produced the most visits with 23.22 percent, or 481,496 visitors; followed by the United States, with 14.66 percent, or 303,951 visitors; and China with 11.5 percent, or 238,523 visitors.
To attract more foreign tourists, Barnett suggested extending visa-free privileges to more countries.
As per the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index 2016, the Philippines is ranked 76th out of 218, where Filipino citizens can now travel to 61 countries visa-free.
Amid challenges, Barnett is confident in the country’s tourism potential with the success of “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign by the DOT, which led to the positive image of the Philippines as a destination.
(With Kathryn Jose and Tam Natividad)