President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. directed the Department of Tourism (DOT) to assess non-operating tourism zones under the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) to boost the Philippine tourism industry.
The President issued the directive during a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Tourism Sector Group on Thursday in Malacañang Palace, where PSAC presented updates on previous recommendations and new proposals to further improve the country’s tourism sector.
“I’m happy that the general direction… that means that we are actually… have already started. There are some very good suggestions,” the President said, noting, however, that TIEZA’s problem seems to be its non-operating properties.
TIEZA is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the DOT and is responsible for implementing policies and programs of the DOT pertaining to the development, promotion and supervision of tourism projects in the country.
The meeting also explored the best ways forward for TIEZA and how to manage its assets.
The PSAC reported that TIEZA’s primary source of funding comes from travel tax collection, which is insufficient to support its project requirements.
Under the Tourism Act of 2009, 50 percent of travel tax goes to TIEZA, while 40 percent is allocated to Higher Education Development Fund to enable the CHED to prioritize tourism-related educational programs and courses. The remaining 10 percent goes to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
As a remedy, among PSAC’s quick wins recommendations include amending the allocation of Travel Tax to grant more funding for TIEZA and expanding the list of priority tourism-related investment activities, among others.
The advisory body’s medium- and long-term recommendations include reviewing, simplifying, and standardizing the privatization or bidding process, leveraging properties to undertake more tourism infrastructure projects, and establishing and issuing a long-term Strategic Tourism Infrastructure/Investment Masterplan.
On the proposal to grant more allocation for TIEZA from the travel tax, the DOT said the move requires amendment to the law, and may not materialize within a year, as eyed by the PSAC.
Responding to the proposal to exclude asset operation from TIEZA’s mandate, the tourism GOCC said such function may be transferred to private partners instead.
The Philippines recorded 2.6 million tourist arrivals in 2022, which exceeded the target of 1.7 million.
For this year, the country welcomed 1,138,637 international tourist arrivals as of March 14, or 24 percent of the 4.8 million target for the year.
Comparing the 2028 target to actual pre-pandemic data in 2019, there is a targeted increase of 20.19 percent in tourism revenue, 10.53 percent in tourism employment, 38.55 percent in the number of international arrivals, and 12.61 percent in domestic trips to the country.
The PSAC is composed of business leaders and industry experts who provide technical advice to the President in achieving the government’s economic objectives, particularly in six key sectors such as agriculture; digital infrastructure; healthcare; infrastructure; jobs generation; and tourism. #
