Duterte gov’t to invest $23B in tourism infra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:06 AM November 29, 2016
http://business.inquirer.net/220385/duterte-govt-invest-23b-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.
Regionally competitive
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
Intra-Asean
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
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.