RP may not meet 7M target: Colliers

The same World Economic Forum survey detailed the Philippines as the 11th most dangerous country for tourists in the world after Colombia, Yemen, El Salvador, Pakistan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Egypt, Kenya, Honduras, and Ukraine.

Security threats and infrastructure gaps in the country could dampen the Philippine tourism sector's growth this year and constrict its potential of generating more jobs and livelihood especially in the countryside, said a property management and research firm.

In a report released on Friday, Colliers International Philippines warned that the government may not hit the seven million tourist arrival target by end-2017 when security concerns and unresolved infrastructure woes continue to haunt the country.

“Colliers International Philippines believes that solving safety and security issues, streamlining the business registration process, and expediting the implementation of crucial infrastructure projects should enable the current administration to meet or even surpass its visitor arrival target, which should result in higher hotel occupancies in major tourist spots across the country and more businessmen investing in the country's travel and tourism sector,” said the company in a statement, following a World Economic Forum (WEF) report on the decline in the Philippines' tourism competitiveness.

The latest WEF Travel and Tourism Survey shows that the Philippines' travel and tourism competitiveness slipped by five notches to 79th this year from 74th in 2015. This makes the country part of the bottom 50 percent of all the 136 countries surveyed, said Colliers.

“Colliers International Philippines believes that improving the country's travel and tourism competitiveness is important if the government is to achieve its target of attracting seven million foreign tourists this year,” the property management and research firm opined.

The same WEF survey also detailed the Philippines as the 11th most dangerous country for tourists in the world after Colombia, Yemen, El Salvador, Pakistan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Egypt, Kenya, Honduras, and Ukraine. On the aspect of air transport infrastructure, more needs to be done, with the Philip- pines ranking 114th due to its old and overstretched airports.

Developing and improving regional airports as alternative international gateways could be done to attract more tourists outside the major air hub in Metro Manila, said Colliers.

Paying attention to road networks, that need to be paved and expanded, must also be included in the government's plan to support its tourism industry, it added. WEF puts the Philippines in the 104th spot for this category.

Furthermore, ease of doing business for tourism-related enterprises is also a concern.

Nevertheless, there are also opportunities that the country's tourism sector may welcome. The Philippines ranked 19th in terms of the number of world heritage natural sites and formed part of the top 20 percent of destinations in terms of price competitiveness due to attractive hotel accommodation rates and relatively low ticket taxes and airport fees.

From 5.9 million foreign visitors in 2016, the DOT is targeting seven million international arrivals this year or about a 17 percent growth. Colliers expects the Philippines to get 6.6 million international tourists this year. /