Tourism
From The Report: Philippines 2019
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Tourism in the Philippines has seen considerable growth in recent years, with over 7000 islands and an abundance of rich cultural traditions making the archipelago a regionally competitive destination. The closure of popular destination Boracay for six months in 2018 shone a light on other destinations and allowed the sector to diversify its offerings to cater to a wider array of tourists, as well as boost the country’s reputation for being sustainable and environmentally aware. The government’s goal of attracting 12m tourists per year by 2022 will be aided by the emergence of new coastal and island destinations, combined with the growth of medical tourism, cruise tourism, and the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions segment. This chapter also contains interviews with Alan Peter Cayetano, Chairman, Philippines South-east Asian Games Organising Committee; and Pocholo D Paragas, COO, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Opening up: The sector is seeking to diversify in order to support growing visitor numbers and encourage sustainability
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Tourism in the Philippines has seen considerable growth in recent years, with over 7000 islands and an abundance of rich cultural traditions making the archipelago a regionally competitive destination. There has been a renewed focus on sustainable tourism following the closure of popular coastal destination Boracay for six months in 2018. This shone a light on other destinations and allowed the sector to diversify its offerings to cater to a wider array of tourists, as well as boost the country’s…

Analysis

New standard: The success of the rehabilitation of Boracay Island is leading the way for environmentally conscious tourism
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One of the Philippines’ most popular holiday destinations, Boracay is an example of how tourism growth can have negative effects if it is not handled correctly. An island covering 10.3 sq km, Boracay hosted one-third of all the country’s visitors in 2017. Unchecked development, insufficient waste water treatment facilities and overpopulation led to an emergency task force finding widespread environmental violations. The majority of sewerage facilities were draining waste into the sea…

Interview

Going for gold: Alan Peter Cayetano, Chairman, Philippines South-East Asian (SEA) Games Organising Committee, on leveraging soft power
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Interview:Alan Peter Cayetano What is the economic impact of hosting the 2019 SEA Games and how will this affect the tourism and hospitality sectors in particular? ALAN PETER CAYETANO: The opportunity to host the SEA Games was made possible by a series of reforms and investments implemented by the current administration. The purpose of the SEA Games, beyond hosting a major sporting competition, is to relaunch the image of the country and showcase progress made in fields such as infrastructure…

Analysis

Play ball: The 2019 South-East Asian Games are expected to act as a springboard for sports and tourism development
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As host of the 30th South-East Asian (SEA) Games in 2019, the Philippines is aiming to put on the largest event of this magnitude to date. Taking place from November 30 to December 11, the SEA Games will feature 56 sports and 523 events, easily outpacing Thailand’s previous record of 44 sports in 2011. New sports on offer include skateboarding, obstacle sports, breakdancing and e-sports. Organisers initially proposed a budget of P7.5bn ($139.5m), but in February 2019 the Senate approved…

Interview

Informed decisions: Pocholo D Paragas, COO, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), on boosting visitor experiences and infrastructure development
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Interview:Pocholo D Paragas How will tourism enterprise zones (TEZs) and foreign direct investment (FDI) help to further the sector’s economic development? POCHOLO D PARAGAS: A provision that extends the TIEZA tax perks available to TEZ operators for an additional 10 years was signed into law in April 2019. We expect that this measure will help to generate P222bn ($4.1bn) in capital investment and around 160,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities. TEZs are designed to promote…

Analysis

Trend-setters: Outbound tourism from China drives growth across Asia Pacific
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Over the course of less than two decades, China has gone from being a minor player to being the world’s largest and most lucrative source of outbound tourists. In 2017 alone Chinese nationals made more than 131m trips outside of their national borders, spending approximately $300bn in the process. The growing volume and financial clout of Chinese tourists presents considerable opportunities – while simultaneously posing new challenges – for hoteliers, tour group operators, retailers…

Analysis

Trend-setters: Outbound tourism from China drives growth across Asia Pacific
OBG
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Over the course of less than two decades, China has gone from being a minor player to being the world’s largest and most lucrative source of outbound tourists. In 2017 alone Chinese nationals made more than 131m trips outside of their national borders, spending approximately $300bn in the process. The growing volume and financial clout of Chinese tourists presents considerable opportunities – while simultaneously posing new challenges – for hoteliers, tour group operators, retailers…