Philippines earmarks over US$322 million to build roads to tourism spots

MANILA, Jan 15 (Xinhua): The Philippines has earmarked 17.7 billion pesos (US$322 million) to fund the building and upgrading of roads to make various tourism spots more accessible to tourists, a lawmaker said Sunday.

Marvin Rillo, a member of the House of Representatives, said the fund will be used for the government's Tourism Road Infrastructure Program this year.

"We are counting on the tourism sector's recovery from the pandemic to create new employment and livelihood opportunities for Filipinos, especially in the provinces," said Rillo, vice chair of the House tourism committee.

Rillo said the country needs to develop more roads and bridges to open tourism destinations to tourists across the archipelago, adding that the tourism and public works and highways departments have jointly identified the projects that will be funded under the government's tourism road infrastructure program.

In December, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading of 34 bills that identify new tourism destinations across the country, including waterfalls, national parks, and caves.

The Philippines is improving connectivity and convenience to lure more tourists, including upgrading tourism infrastructure and digitalization.

Specifically, the government plans to develop cruise tourism, conduct regional travel fairs, develop tourism circuits and continue convergence with tourism-enhancing government agencies.

The Philippines' Department of Tourism said 2.65 million international travelers visited the Philippines in 2022, raking in 208.96 billion pesos (roughly 3.8 billion dollars) in revenue.

For 2023, the tourism department targets international arrivals to hit between 2.6 million to 6.4 million. - Xinhua