Privatizing regional airports to unlock tourism potential

CEBU, Philippines - A top official of Aboitiz Equity Ventures underscored the importance of privatizing the regional airports in the Philippines, citing this as a key to unlock the country's tourism potential.

Chief Financial Officer Manuel R. Lozano said that if airports are privatized, they can be more efficient in terms of facilities and expansion.

Despite the fact that the Philippines is home to some of the world's best beaches and tourist destinations, it still lags behind its Southeast Asian neighbors.

Lozano cited the airport infrastructure as one factor causing this.

For instance, he cited Vietnam which is attracting more tourists in the Philippines because the former has better airports event in its remote provinces.

The Philippines is last among Southeast Asia's six major economies in terms of tourism growth.

In 2014, Malaysia was number 1 in the number of visitors with 27.44 million. Thailand was second with 24.78 million.

Singapore came third with 15.1 million tourists.

Vietnam was fifth with 7.87 million visitors.

And the Philippines is at number 6 with only 4.83 million tourists.

To unlock its tourism potential, the Philippines has to invest heavily in airport infrastructure and facilities to meet tourists' expectations.

In the Philippines, Lozano said the privatization of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport is really a good development, noting significant changes happening at the airport.

This is why the CFO said AEV is looking to bid for the regional airports in the country eyed for privatization.

AEV is the holding company of the Aboitiz family, with interest in banking, power, food, and infrastructure.

The government had asked investors to bid for some P700 million worth of airport projects that will help improve the facilities of the country's regional air points.

Last September 23, the Department of Transportation called on private contractors to participate in the open bidding process for six regional airports namely General Santos International Airport (P61.80 million); Masbate Airport (P75.85 million); Surigao Airport (P162.56 million); Ozamiz Airport (P267.45 million); Tagbilaran Airport (P60.06 million); and Virac Airport (P75.73 million).

Earlier, Philippines Air Asia CEO Dexter Comendador underscored the country's poor air travel infrastructure as a key factor hampering the full potential of its tourism industry.

Comendador stressed that what's lacking in the Philippines is really infrastructure, saying it already has the talent pool and the increasing airplanes.

The airline executive urged the administration of President Duterte to modernize the country's regional airports to decongest the main international airport in Manila.

"What we need to do is modernize our airports," he had said.

"We know we have more tourists spots than other ASEAN countries like Vietnam," he said, but despite this the Philippines is getting less foreign travelers compared to its ASEAN counterparts mainly because of airport infrastructure constraints. (FREEMAN)