Philippines needs more hotel investments

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) wants to attract more investments for the hotel sector to address the demand for more accommodation facilities brought about by the increase in tourist arrivals.

“There are a lot of investors wanting to invest in the Philippines,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo told The STAR.

“We are identifying what places they can invest in, but we’re focused on the hotels and accommodation,” she said.

Teo identified Davao as one location for potential hotel investments due to the lack of five-star hotels in the area. She also cited Bohol and Palawan as other possible locations for hotel investments.

Teo said earlier Chengdu-based charter operator Hanglv International Travel Group is interested in investing in the hotel sector, particularly in Palawan.

The need for more hotels in the country is driven by the growing number of tourists visiting the country.

As of the first 10 months, foreign arrivals have reached 5.47 million, an 11.54 percent rise from 4.91 million in the previous year.

Based on earlier news reports, DOT director for the Office of Tourism Development Planning, Research and Information Management Milagros Say said the Philippines needs to build 128,000 new hotel rooms by 2022 to meet accommodation requirements of tourists targeted by the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP).

Under the NTDP, the DOT is expecting the number of foreign arrivals to hit 12 million and the number of domestic tourists to reach 89 million by 2022.

Say said most of the backlog is located in central Philippines, where most of the good beaches are located.

Colliers International Philippines research manager Joey Roi Bondoc earlier said the lack of hotels in some tourist destinations is due to infrastructure constraints in these areas.

Teo previously identified the DOT’s homestay program as a solution to address the lack of accommodation facilities in some locations.

The homestay program provides tourists alternative accommodation offered by locals, which involves board and lodging while sharing the Filipino culture and lifestyle to their guests.

While the Homestay program is able to address the lack of accommodations in some areas, Bondoc said there is still a need to put up hotels once infrastructure, particularly roads leading to tourist destinations are developed to attract more tourists.