MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) will work on fulfilling the marching order of President Marcos to boost the country’s tourism industry by improving existing infrastructure and formulating policies.
During last Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Marcos – who was attending virtually as he was still recovering from COVID-19 – said, “We just have to support the plan to develop all of these enabling environments – the policy, conditions and infrastructure,” according to the agency.
In response, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco said Marcos’ pronouncements would be “the direction that we would take.”
For instance, the DOT would improve connectivity in tourism by developing related infrastructure, as well as joining more popular tourist spots and areas trying to entice tourists.
Frasco said there is a need to improve the country’s airports, which she said “are simply not yet of the global standard that would put us at par with our direct competitors, with our (Southeast Asian) member nations.”
She added, it could be done by “revisit(ing) the capacity of these airports,” which could determine if additional flights would be possible.
Frasco also floated the possibility of building and improving more ports of entry, like seaports, in certain tourist spots.
The agency would also make sure tourists will not experience any hassle while visiting the country by formulating uniform protocols with other agencies, establishing tourist service centers and rest areas and developing health care facilities in tourist spots, she added.
Under her term, Frasco declared she would also ensure that the agency would help all local government units aiming to promote their areas as tourist destinations.
Hardest hit
The Philippines’ tourism sector was among the hardest hit when the COVID pandemic struck.
In a statement, Frasco said the improvement of the sector will be pushed by the department.
“Many measures could be improved as far as policy regulations, both on the national and local level, and proper coordination, to be able to focus on the overall tourist experience from the time that he arrives to the point of entry, to the time that he gets to his point of destination,” she said.
The secretary added that the DOT is aiming to improve tourism infrastructure and accessibility, have cohesive and comprehensive digitalization and connectivity, enhance the overall tourist experience, promote the equal development and promotion of tourism products across the country, diversify portfolio through multidimensional tourism, maximize domestic tourism and strengthen tourism governance.
These, Frasco said, will improve the Philippines’ ranking in Southeast Asia in terms of tourist arrivals and preference.
She further stated that efforts on improving connectivity of tourist destinations through convergence with tourism-enhancing government agencies, clustering of regional tourism circuits and improving the end-to-end transportation of tourists, will also be pushed.
The DOT is eyeing to focus on “equalization” of tourism product development across the country, by tapping the potential of nature-based tourism, heritage and culture, food tourism, health wellness and retirement, arts; and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions or MICE tourism.
“There is no question as to the richness of our heritage and the vastness of our culture, but there is definitely still a need for national government assistance to local government as far as technical expertise on how we can harness these aspects of our country, so we can package it in a manner that is at par with the finest that is being offered by other countries, and make our offerings characteristically Filipino,” she said.
Marcos’ push for the strengthening of domestic tourism, tied with international tourism, will also yield “better economic returns,” she added. – Ralph Edwin Villanueva