More airports in tourist spots needed

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines needs better infrastructure, particularly airports, to boost the competitiveness of the country’s tourism sector, the Management Association of the Philippines said.

MAP president Ramoncito Fernandez told reporters that he sees the bright spot in tourism, however, there are specific investments needed in the sector.

Fernandez pointed out that the sector still needs better infrastructure to boost its competitiveness.

“If you talk about infrastructure, it’s really about airports. We really need airports to be built in our tourists spots,” Fernandez said.

The Switzerland-based business school International Institute for Management Development (IMD) said the Philippines dropped nine notches to the 50th spot from 41st in its 2017 World Competitiveness Rankings.

“The reasons for such a drop include a decline in tourism and employment, the worsening of public finances and a surge in concerns about the education system,” IMD was quoted in the report.

In the 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Philippines also slipped to the 79th rank, five spots lower than its ranking in 2015.

The report said there are several categories where the Philippines needs to improve substantially, such as in safety and security category, where the country ranks 126th.

Colliers International Philippines research manager Joey Roi Bondoc earlier told The STAR the closure of Boracay could dampen the competitiveness of the overall Philippine tourism sector.

He said closure of the island would definitely affect the legitimate businesses that complied with the local government’s policies.  

“Over the long run this might impair the Philippines’ competitiveness as a leisure investment destination,” Bondoc said.

The Philippines still remains at the bottom 50 percent of the 136 countries ranked by the report. There are several categories where the Philippines need to improve substantially, such as in safety and security category, where the Philippines ranks 126th.

This makes the Philippines the 11th most dangerous country for tourists after Colombia, Yemen, El Salvador, Pakistan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Egypt, Kenya, Honduras, and Ukraine. 

“Government officials must immediately address security threats in the country as failure to do so will definitely dampen the tourism sector’s growth and constrict its potential of generating more jobs and livelihood especially in the countryside,” Bondoc said.

Meanwhile, the Philippine tourism sector also needs to significantly reduce the number of days and procedures required to start a business as the country as it ranked 115th in the starting a business category.

Bondoc pointed out that improving business processes would help the tourism sector entice more tourism-related enterprises. 

“The convoluted bureaucracy has also made the business registration process costly – turning off some local and foreign investors from putting up leisure-related businesses,” Bondoc added.

Despite the lower overall ranking, the Philippines still secured the 19th spot in terms of number of world heritage natural sites as the country is endowed with rich natural resources. 

The country was in the top 20 percent in terms of price competitiveness due to attractive hotel accommodation rates and relatively low ticket taxes and airport fees.