PTA to sell prime resorts, hotels

To help raise much-needed revenue for the cash-strapped government, the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) has put up for sale some state-owned prime real estate properties.

The PTA has officially released the list of properties up for sale, for lease, and those which can be used in joint venture agreements. The STAR obtained the list contained in a glossy covered folder called "PTA Investment Kit."

PTA general manager and chief executive officer Robert Dean Barbers said the investment kit can also serve as a guide on how to participate in the bidding, which is open to both foreign and local investors, for the "outright sale" or "co-management venture" of selected PTA-owned properties and tourist facilities in various parts of the country.

"President Arroyo has approved the PTA privatization process," Barbers told The STAR yesterday.

"It is in this regard that the PTA is currently opening up its tourism assets for private ownership and I call on our fellow Filipinos living and working abroad to grab this opportunity and invest in promoting Philippine tourism," Barbers also stated in his invitation included among the documents in the PTA Investment Kit.

Barbers emphasized the goal of the PTA and the government is to promote private investments in the tourism sector.

"We believe that self-sustaining and profitable projects should be managed privately to further enhance profit, thus ultimately increasing its contribution to the nation’s tourism efforts," Barbers said.

The PTA, a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the Department of Tourism (DOT), currently has over 19 assets under management and operates 49 tourism-related entities.

Among the properties put up for outright sale are the 7.8 hectare property in Matabungkay in the coastal town of Lian, Batangas that could be turned into a beach resort and recreational facility, and the 9.46 hectare property in Naic, Cavite, billed as "ideal" for housing or inland resort development projects.

Among the PTA properties being offered on a lease or joint venture project basis are the Agoo Plaza Hotel in La Union; Mt. Data Hotel in the Cordilleras; San Fabian Beach Resort in Pangasinan; Macarthur Park beach resort in Palo, Leyte; Maomawan Nature Park in Cebu; Hilaga in Pampanga; Gardens of Malicasag Eco-Tourism Village in Cagayan de Oro City; Zamboanga Golf Course and Beach Club in Zamboanga City; and the Boracay Environmental Infrastructure Project on Boracay island off the coast of Kalibo, Aklan.

Barbers, however, did not elaborate on how much the PTA expects to raise from the privatization of these properties.

"There is no exact amount but it could raise up to billions of pesos," Barbers said.

"We hope one property (can be) sold within the next few months," Barbers added, explaining that the PTA will still have to go through the mandated procedures.

Under an executive order that spelled out the privatization policy of the government, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) has the final approval of any sale of government assets.

"The final approval is by the President, as chair of the NEDA Board," Barbers clarified.

Barbers said the PTA will have to comply with the mandate of its charter "to invest and divest" in tourism entities all over the 75 provinces in the country.