Philippines to invest 23 bln USD in tourism infrastructure

The Philippines is targeting to invest 23 billion U.S. dollars in tourism infrastructure between now and 2022 under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP), the Department of Finance said Monday.

Finance Undersecretary Grace Karen Singson said the proposed NTDP investments cover road networks, airports, cruise ports, railway, site infrastructure, tourism enterprise zones, transport units, accommodation facilities, and aircraft acquisition.

She said that under the NTDP, the government has targeted to build as much as 2,620 km of tourism roads over the next six years, from a baseline of 900 km, which will require an investment of 2 billion U.S. dollars.

"As many renowned tourist sites in the Philippines, such as the Banaue Rice Terraces, the Chocolate Hills and Mt. Apo require long road travel, the Tourism Development Plan has also included the upgrading and construction of access roads to tourism sites and tourism development areas," she said.

According to Singson, developing the tourism industry is integral to the Duterte administration's 10-point socioeconomic agenda as this sector is the third biggest contributor to the country's GDP, after trade and real estate sectors.

The tourism industry accounted for 5 million jobs in 2015, representing 12.7 percent of the country's total employment.

Philippine government's goal is to double the number of foreign tourist arrivals, increase tourism revenues by 90 percent and generate 14.4 percent of total Philippine jobs from the tourism sector by 2022, she added. Endit