WASHINGTON: The Duterte administration will spend an estimated P6 billion until 2022 to improve port facilities across the country in a bid to attract more tourists who travel on international cruise lines. According to the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) of 2016-2022, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is expected to beef up port facilities with some P1.9 billion in funds for this year alone.
Better port facilities will enable the Department of Tourism (DOT), which drew up the tourism road map, to hopefully encourage the port call of 402 ships with 456,164 passengers by 2022, from 56 ship calls ferrying 47,098 passengers in 2016. This year the DOT projects 75 port calls to be made by cruise ships carrying 68,763 passengers. The investment of the DOTr will help “develop an international cruise port and marina in Manila, [and] improve ports in Romblon, Coron, El Nido, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Iloilo”. Also, the cruise-tourism strategy of the DOT aims to “develop the Turquoise and North Triangles”, which covers Manila-Boracay-Puerto Princesa, and Currimao (Ilocos Norte)/Salomague (Ilocos Sur)-Cagayan-Batanes.
The strategy will also involve the improvement of ferry services between Cebu and Bohol, Batangas and Mindoro, as well as Misamis Oriental and Camiguin—all considered prime tourist destinations in the country. The DOT, likewise, eyes the simplification of port immigration and quarantine policies for cruise tourists. During the recent Asian Cruise Dialogue held in conjunction with the Asean Tourism Forum in Singapore, Paul Chong, vice president for Business Development of Carnival Cruises Corp., noted the Philippines has “great potential in becoming one of Asia’s important cruise hubs” primarily because of its strategic location. Chong met with Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, who presented to him the idea of port calls by Carnival’s 101 ships in Cebu, Boracay, Palawan, Manila, Davao and Subic.
