Former Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri emphasized that private sector investments in infrastructure and public services will significantly benefit the country’s tourism sector, attracting a larger foreign tourist market, especially in response to the economic impact of inadequate infrastructure, frequent power outages, and insufficient water supply on the tourism sector.
“Talo naman natin ang mga beach at ang mga tanawin ng mga kapitbahay natin dito sa Southeast Asia,” Zubiri said.
“Pero talong-talo nila tayo sa mga airport, sa power supply, sa public transport, at sa connectivity. Kaya napag-iiwanan pa rin tayo, kahit mas maganda naman talaga dito sa Pilipinas,” he added.
Thailand led Southeast Asia’s tourism economy in 2023, with 28 million foreign arrivals, followed by Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia, while the Philippines received 5.4 million visitors.
“Tourism is the low-lying fruit that can help us increase our GDP growth once we get our acts together,” he pointed out. “The market is there, the natural resources are there. We just have to invest in our tourism infrastructure.”
Zubiri emphasized the need for government-private partnership in constructing infrastructure for key tourism areas, particularly in energy generation, transmission, and distribution facilities.
“Walang papasok na investors sa mga tourist destinations natin kung napakataas ng presyo ng kuryente, o kung hindi kaya ng power supply ng mga electric cooperatives ang power demand nila,” he added.
In his conversations with regional stakeholders, the cost and the supply of power emerged as a common deterrent to tourism development, especially for off-grid island destinations.
“We were able to solve this power problem for Boracay, and we need to do it for other tourist areas as well,” he said. “We can look at renewable energy as a more sustainable, more reliable, and more cost-effective solution.”
On top of inefficiencies in infrastructure and power supply, Zubiri pointed out that the lack of direct international flights to our tourist destinations inhibits potential visitors from traveling here, pushing them to go to more easily accessible destinations in our neighboring countries instead.
In response to the web of problems plaguing the tourism sector, Zubiri is pushing for the formation of a tourism cabinet cluster that will oversee inter-agency efforts to improve infrastructure and public services in the sector.
