Govt trims tourism targets

AS property firms grapple with the effects of Typhoon Ondoy, they may be in for another drubbing after the government cut its tourism outlook for next year.

Under the updated Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP), the government cut tourist arrivals next year to 3.27 million from the original target of five million.

Last year, tourist arrivals stood at 3.14 million, up by 1.5 percent from 2007.

The revised 2010 arrivals target translated to a job-generation goal of 3.99 million, or about half of the original goal of 6.10 million. Tourism sector revenues likewise were reduced to $3.31 billion next year from an earlier target of $4.86 billion.

“The revised targets . . . reflect the effects of the global economic crisis,” the updated MTPDP said.

The government’s revised tourist arrivals target may hurt private companies who hope to cash in on the expected surge in visitors.

For one, Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) plans spend $600 million on the tourism component of the Newport City Cyber Tourism Zone in Villamor Airbase, Pasay City. AGI unit, Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., has allotted $1.6 billion in various development projects in the next five years.

The holding company is also a locator in the Bagong Nayong Pilipino along with SM Group and Belle Corp., Star Cruises of Malaysia and Azure of Japan.

The SM group is planning to build a Pico de Loro Hotel, SM Cebu Hotel Radisson, Ritz Carlton Hotel at the Mall of Asia complex, SM Inn Travelers Hotel, among others.

Claire Quiray of Regina Capital Development Corp. said the lower tourism targets as well as the typhoons would pose “temporary setbacks in sales of real estate [firms].”

“It would hurt them. But the good thing is it’s going to be temporary. The recovery is still there. The typhoons will not help [the] real estate sector,” she said, adding that the sale of those in “critical areas” will suffer.

She said the property sector should focus on the overseas Filipino worker, as well as low to medium markets.

Earlier, property sector pundits said the industry would take a hit from Ondoy, which flooded half of Metro Manila, a key market and location for many ongoing developments.

The updated economic blueprint said accelerating and maintaining the growth momentum of the tourism industry remains a challenge.

“The current and potential volume and growth of the market and the industry’s ability to maintain a competitive position offer a magnitude of opportunities to the Philippine tourism industry. To optimize this, the national tourism strategy will continue to be implemented,” the document read.

According to the MTPDP, the government would focus promotion in identified market portfolios such as Korea, China, Japan, US, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

The MTPDP said the average daily expenditure of tourists fell to $72.48 last year from $82.96 in 2007, while the average length of stay also dropped to 13.50 from 16.70 over the same period. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter, Manila Times