MANILA, Philippines — Sen. JV Ejercito on Monday urged the Department of Tourism (DOT) to strengthen tourism promotion by addressing airport accessibility and high travel costs that could affect the Philippines’ competitiveness as a tourist destination.
During the Senate hearing on the proposed 2027 DOT budget, Ejercito said the country’s status as an archipelago makes air connectivity and airport services critical to attracting foreign visitors.
“We are facing a lot of challenges because we are an archipelago. Compared to Vietnam and Thailand, most of our arrivals are by air,” he said.
Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, said improving airports should be part of efforts to attract more visitors by making travel more convenient.
“Our airports, for one, have to be more visitor-friendly. And I think the new NAIA management is trying to fix that,” he said.
He also raised concerns over the limited use of e-gates at Philippine airports, saying more foreign visitors should be allowed to use the automated immigration facilities to speed up the arrival process.
Ejercito urged the DOT to assess the country’s competitiveness in terms of hotel rates, food prices and other tourism-related services.
“We should not focus only on promotion. We also need to look at other aspects that can help strengthen tourism, such as hotel prices, food costs and other services in our tourist destinations,” he said.
He said the Philippines could be at a disadvantage against Vietnam and Thailand if accommodation and restaurant prices remain higher.
Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay said the DOT was also developing tourism products, including gastronomy tourism, while coordinating with other agencies to address logistical problems that contribute to higher food costs.
She said high food prices are partly a logistics issue that requires better cold-chain facilities and road infrastructure to transport agricultural products more efficiently.
The DOT, she added, would coordinate with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Agriculture on the issue.
Meanwhile, Ejercito asked the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) about alternative revenue sources if the proposed abolition of the travel tax is implemented.
TIEZA officer-in-charge Mark Lapid said the agency remains heavily dependent on travel-tax collections, which account for about 94 percent to 95 percent of its operating funds.
