Poor travel connectivity has been a significant hurdle to the country’s aim to become a regional tourism powerhouse, which stakeholders are urging the government to address through a collaboration between the tourism and transportation departments.

The president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) said that collaboration between agencies is necessary to resolve the perennial problem.

“The problem with the Philippines is…tourism is not about how beautiful your country is. It’s about how to get to your destination. That’s always been the misconception. And I hope that one day, our government will take it seriously,” said Alan James Montenegro, president of the TCP, also the country manager of Chroma Hospitality Group of the Filinvest Development Corp.

Republic Act 9593 established the TCP to give the private sector a role in crafting tourism policy in partnership with the DoT and its attached agencies.

Expensive to wander

The Philippines does not need many airports, but four main international gateways.

“Davao and Cebu Mactan International Airports can be the gateway for Siargao. It’s a short hop by the propeller pin rather than flying from Manila and paying P21,000,” he suggested.

“If you go to Siargao and Cebu, half of the tourists there are Europeans, more than in Manila. The only people who come to Manila don’t fly on the Middle Eastern route. They probably fly either from Hong Kong or Thailand. Then, for Cebu, they go to Moalboal, Dumaguete, Siquijor, back to Cebu, and Cebu to Siargao. If you make it easier for our tourists to go around, and make Davao an official gateway rather than building international airports everywhere, which is very costly and does not have enough demand,” he stressed.

Montenegro said Tourism Secretary Cristina Garcia Frasco knows about the connectivity problem and the huge expenses of international tourists, even though the DoT is spending millions of dollars on selling the country to the world, which, according to him, “cannot move the needle.”

“If you fly from Europe to the Philippines, it’s at least $2,000 to $2,500. If you come from North America, it’s $2,500. Now, they (tourists) have to pay another ticket to go to Siargao. From Cebu, it’s P15,000, then they will pay for accommodations. Then they have to fly back to Cebu if they want to go down to Dumaguete, if they don’t want to take the bus and travel for six hours, which is another $200. It all adds up, and visitors are spending so much money if they want to go to Boracay. Indeed, the inter-country flight is costly,” he insisted.

Montenegro’s analysis complements Secretary Frasco’s statement in January, stating that in 2024, a comparative survey of tourism spending per capita within the ASEAN, conducted by the World Travel and Tourism Council, showed that international tourists coming into the country spend at least $2,073 per capita.

Frasco said that compared to nine nights in 2019, tourists now stay an average of over 11 nights in the country.

Stop wasting budget

“This means that the DoT needs a lot of help from the DoTr. They should present a proper gateway strategy for lawmakers to stop allocating money for another airport. Why build an airport in Camotes? Which airline is going to fly there?” Montenegro asked.

Last December, the DoTr revealed that the construction works for the airport terminal in Camotes Island had officially started following its groundbreaking on 10 December 2024.

It was reported that the project, situated on a 27-hectare property owned by the Cebu Provincial Government in the town of San Francisco, has an initial budget of P120 million, which was secured through Deputy Speaker and 5th District Rep. Duke Frasco, the husband of DoT Secretary Frasco.

The Department of Public Works and Highways will build the airport terminal.