Investors urged to open more hotels in Pangasinan to accommodate influx of tourists
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan— The Provincial Government of Pangasinan is calling for more hospitality investments to bridge the gap between the volume of arrival and length of stay of tourists in the province.
In his second State of the Province Address (SOPA) 2024 during the 444th foundation anniversary of Pangasinan held at the Capitol Complex last April 5, Pangasinan Governor Ramon V. Guico III reported that tourist arrivals in the province aggregated to 9,065,577 in 2023, or 51.78 percent higher than 5,972,629 recorded in 2022.
“We intensified our efforts to make Pangasinan as the province of choice for local tourists and foreign visitors,” he said. “The Provincial Administration, through the Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office, strengthens our resolve toward the enhancement of participatory governance, especially in tourism. We play the role of an aggressive catalyst to permeate every nook and corner of the province to strengthen the tourism industry.”
Based on data from tourist destinations, 8,401,897 visitors went to to Pangasinan from January to December of 2023. However, overnight tourist arrivals per accommodation establishments peaked only at 663,680, or merely 7.9 percent of the latter. At present, there are 819 accommodation facilities and 1,067 other tourism-related enterprises in the province.
Challenged by the disparity between the arrival and stay of guests, the governor urged hospitality industry players to invest in branded hotels to cater to the growing number of tourists coming in to Pangasinan.
“The natural attractions [and other] tourist spots of the province naturally attracts all of these tourists. But the challenge is how to make them stay. That’s why the operators and investors of hospitality business—hotels and resorts—they have to beef up their investments and improve their services, accommodations and rooms to entice all of these tourists to stay in the province at least overnight,” Guico III told reporters in an interview. “So just imagine the business that could be generated out of this tourist arrival.”
According to him, they are in discussion with an international hotel brand owner who is interested to put up a 320-room accommodation facility at the Capital Complex in Lingayen.
“That’s ambitious, but it makes sense to put it in the Capitol because this is the center of the province—one of the biggest in the country. And, then, the connectivity is there via our PLEX [Pangasinan Link Expressway]. So we have to put up more convention centers and meeting halls. MICE [meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions] industry is something that we have to look into,” he said.
Apart from accommodations, the Provincial Government is improving various attractions and building new infrastructures meant to spur tourism activities in the province.
For instance, the Capitol Complex is being developed with the first and possibly the longest reflecting pool in the whole country that faces the iconic building from the beach. The Capitol itself attracted 1,947 visitors in 2023.
“We’ll make it walkable. We’ll make it conducive for families to gather. We’ll make it safe,” the governor said of the master plan for the Capitol Compound.
Outside of Pangasinan’s capital, he bared their plan to build an airport in Bolinao and redevelop the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, commonly known as Manaoag Church, which receives more than 6 million pilgrims annually.
Amid such ongoing and upcoming developments, these should ”not limit other private investors to invest in so many beautiful places of the province,” Guico III stressed.