The Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DOT) has released a detailed action plan that targets the addition of more than 120,000 new hotel rooms by 2028 in order to keep up with surging tourism demand.
The Philippine Hotel Industry Strategic Action Plan (PHISAP) 2023-2028, compiled in partnership with the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA), outlines the need to accelerate infrastructure upgrade and expansion of hotel rooms across the country with the aim of reaching 456,000 hotel rooms by 2028, according to state-run Philippine News Agency.
There are currently 335,592 rooms in 18,818 hotel establishments nationwide, meaning a shortfall of 120,463 from the four-year target.
It is projected that annual tourism arrivals will reach 11.5 million by 2028, with the PHISAP projecting this will require at least 456,055 hotel rooms.
“The expected growth in foreign tourist arrivals, compounded by the immense volume of domestic trips made annually, mandates local destinations to increase their capacity in terms of providing a diverse range of product offerings such as attractions and experiences to travelers,” the roadmap states.
“In relation, the number of rooms made available to guests must also be increased to meet the demand for higher arrivals.”
The roadmap suggests high demand in places like Central Luzon, Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Quezon, Davao Gulf and coast, and the Bicol region, and medium demand in areas of Cotabato-Sarangani, Metro Manila and Rizal, Surigao-Dinagat Islands, and Cagayan de Oro coast and hinterland.
The roadmap, which also lists measures to enhance the tourism sector’s global competitiveness such as strengthening data collection, developing human resources and promoting public-private partnerships, is critical to the industry according to Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco.
“The PHISAP is more than just a road map, it is a bold vision for a thriving, sustainable and inclusive future for Philippine tourism, outlining the pathways to develop world-class accommodations while ensuring that facilities are accessible to a broad spectrum of travelers,” she said.
“By fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, PHISAP seeks to address the evolving demands of tourism in a way that is both innovative while being inclusive.”
Despite such growth projections, a separate PNA report on Wednesday said the DOT was increasing efforts to attract tourists from South Korea, the USA and Japan amid concerns the Philippines will not hit its target of 7.7 million visitors in 2024. Franco told local media that issues around visas, particularly in relation to visitors from China, were impacting visitor numbers with 4.43 million arrivals as of September.
“We do have challenges in terms of chasing after the projected number, especially in light of external factors that include geopolitical stresses upon these arrivals, over which we have little control now,” Franco said.
“The simple reality is that the issuance of visas to the Chinese market has been publicly declared to be more stringent. So, with a more stringent visa policy towards Chinese travelers, I don’t think we can expect a flourishing market from that jurisdiction.”
China ranked as the Philippines’ second largest source tourism market pre-COVID with 1.35 million visitor arrivals between January and September 2019, however this number has fallen to 260,134 during the same period in 2024.
“That is why the DOT, respectful of these realities on the ground, is actively pursuing number one our top source, markets including South Korea, the US, Japan, as well as markets for which we have massive opportunity, including India,” Frasco said.
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