Government urged to focus on tourism

The Philippines must focus on tourism next year because it has the highest value added among all other industries and it needs the smallest investment, businessmen said.

“There are a number of opportunities the country can take advantage of and tourism is one of them because it has the highest value added and requires the smallest investment,” Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice chairman Sammie Lim said.

According to Lim, the tourism industry is expected to create three million more jobs in five years. This would bring the number of additional employment to five million.

However, he said of the two million people currently employed in the industry majority or 1.5 million are not properly trained.

“We need to do something so that our tourism graduates can be employed and recognized worldwide,” he noted.

Lim proposed working together with government agencies like the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in order to help hone students who would like to be in the tourism industry.

He said private firms such as airlines, shipping lines and hotels must sit together with the government in order to develop a curriculum that would be needed by students.

He noted that tourism students are studying things that are not really necessary while practical application is lacking.

Meanwhile, the group said the local economy will only grow by three to 4.2 percent next year while exports are expected to increase by only five to eight percent.

“The country will grow by no less than three percent. That is expected given the economic situation worldwide,” PCCI chairman Sergio Ortiz-Luis said.

Ortiz-Luis, who is also the president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport), said the major problem of the country is the value of the peso and the shrinking client base.

The biggest market of exporters are the United States and Europe, both of which were hit by the global economic meltdown.

In fact, he said semiconductor exports, the largest component of local sales overseas, will remain in the red.

“It (electronics export) has been negative for the last several months. It is okay as long as it will not go beyond negative five percent,” Ortiz-Luis explained.

Bulk of the growth for exports next year is expected to come from the merchandise sector with a projected three to five percent while total exports including services is expected to expand by five to eight percent.

In spite of the slowdown, Ortiz-Luis said that the industry will bit the three to five percent full year export target as first 10 months data already showed a growth of more than four percent.