WITH the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program going full swing, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP) expressed bullishness on the country’s tourism industry next year.
“The whole industry is bullish. The Duterte administration’s thrust toward infrastructure development is going to boost the tourism industry as it will bring more tourists to other places in the country,” said Eugene Yap in a recent interview with the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of he Christmas lighting event of Bayview Park Hotel in Manila.
“We are thinking of a 10-percent growth in 2019. The impact of the property boom is also felt in the tourism industry as a lot of hotels are being constructed to meet the demands of the influx of tourists in the country,” Yap added.
Moreover, Yap said HRAP is also promoting the Philippines to investors for potential projects to boost economic inclusivity. “There are a lot of untapped last wilderness in the Philippines,” he said.
Big-ticket projects such as the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 7, Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 expansion, Skyway connector road, Metro Subway and Clark International Airport modernization, among others, are expected to spur up development around the country.
According to Department of Tourism (DOT) data, the Philippines achieved a 8.32-percent growth when it received 5.3 million visitors in the January-to-September 2018 period compared to 4.9 million visitors in the same period of last year.
The top 12 markets by volume are Korea (21.84 percent), China (17.94 percent), the US (14.74 percent), Japan (8.9 percent), Australia (3.62 percent), Taiwan (3.36 percent), Canada (3.12 percent), the United Kingdom (2.82 percent), Singapore (2.42 percent), Malaysia (1.98 percent), Hong Kong (1.79 percent) and India (1.72 percent).
In its tourism national strategy, the DOT aims to “formulate an integrated sustainable tourism management plan for central Philippines, identifying viable critical environmental, infrastructure and community-based projects to link and integrate the tourism development of the area.”
Under their tourism management plan, the DOT aims to “provide a comprehensive planning framework for the development of tourism so that it can play a key role in the development of the regional economy.”
The DOT also wants to pursue a “vision of the future direction and content of tourism development, which can help to focus and guide the actions of the various stakeholders toward a shared goal.”
Yap, also the vice president and general manager of Bayview Hotel Development Corp., said Bayview is also preparing and developing its capabilities to maintain its competitiveness in the three-star category.
“We’re concentrating in developing our resources and investing in our resources to maintain our stature in the tourism service industry,” said Yap.
“I hope guests see as for who we are as an affordable hotel and we keep on challenging ourselves,” he added.
Yap said Bayview is also upgrading and renovating rooms and enhancing the meal offerings. “We are refurbishing, reinvesting and retraining.”
https://businessmirror.com.ph/hrap-says-build-build-build-can-boost-tourism/
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