More lower-end hotels needed in tourist areas

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s tourism sector is still in need of budget-friendly accommodation facilities to cater to travelers in the lower end of the market, the chief of the Department of Tourism(DOT) said.

In an interview, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat told The STAR that the DOT continues to encourage more investments in the development of the tourism areas in the country, including more hotel rooms.

“We’re inviting not only the high-end but also the lower-end because a lot of people want to travel but they find it expensive,” Puyat said.

“In fact, we’re talking to some investors, but more in the lower-end so that more people can enjoy the place (tourism areas). And they can spend more on the location itself,” she said.

Jones Lang Lasalle earlier cited the Philippine hospitality sector as among markets in the Asia-Pacific region seen as attractive to investors this year, driven by the robust growth of the tourism industry.

 “The overwhelming support for tourism that the Philippine government has demonstrated is expected to bring forth a tremendous positive effect on the growth of the real estate industry’s hospitality sector,” JLL earlier said.

“This, as JLL predicts that the region’s positive tourism numbers will continue to thrive in 2019, anchored on the strong fundamentals of the Asia-Pacific market,” it added.

JLL cited data from its report which showed that the Asia-Pacific region is the only region expecting growth in hotel transaction volumes, anticipating a total of $9.5 billion this year, a 15 percent rise from 2018.