Philippine tourism budget up 44 per cent from 2015

el-nido-palawan
El Nido, Palawan

THE Philippines’ newly-appointed tourism secretary Wanda Teo has vowed to efficiently utilise the resources given to her for the promotion and development of the country’s tourism industry.

According to a statement by the Philippines’ Department of Tourism, it has gotten a substantial budget increase this year, up 44 per cent from the 2015 budget of 2.5 billion pesos (US$53 million) to a 3.61 billion pesos (US$76.5 million) sum for 2016.

No details have been revealed as to how the budget is to be allocated, but Teo added that information on activities and transactions of the tourism ministry can be accessed from its soon-to-relaunch website.

In the statement, Teo also lauded the country’s president Rodrigo Duterte on his plans to construct new highways and bridges to network major islands and tourist destinations.

Referring to Duterte’s state of the nation address on Monday, Teo said: “We are elated and inspired by the president’s announcement that topping his list of priorities is the building of highways and roads that can provide easy access to our tourist sites.”

The president had further stated in his speech that labour-intensive industries such as tourism will need reforms in order to ensure competitiveness and to promote the ease of conducting such businesses in the Philippines.

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