Procrastination by past administrations did not stop the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) from launching the first Philippine Hotel Industry Strategic Action Plan (PHISAP) 2023-2028 yesterday, October 16, at The Westin Manila in Pasig City.

The collaboration brought forth consultations with key stakeholders, including government agencies, industry associations, hotel operators, and other relevant parties, in order to gather essential input and insights through interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys.

The strategic development plan for the rollout ensures that options are evaluated to align with the industry’s objectives for the best chance of success. A specific focus is placed on meeting the projected room keys of 456,055 by 2028. Currently, the country has a total of 335,592 rooms, resulting in a reported room gap of 120,463.

“We have no time to wait, and that is why we treated this with utmost priority,” Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said adding, “I’ve personally learned so much from your (PHOA) wisdom, your experience, and I appreciate your insight very much. I’m grateful for your recognition of the sense of urgency with which we have tried to lead the Department of Tourism. For that is the instruction of our President, the Philippines must claim its rightful place in the ASEAN and the world. Now is the time for the Philippines.”

PHOA President Arthur Lopez credited Secretary Frasco as the prime mover in finally putting out the PHISAP as the review had been languishing in DOT for decades, “We’ve been working  on the PHISAP for the last 10 years and finally, we’ve got the support of Secretary Frasco to work with DOT. The first PHISAP was put up many years ago and, well, just gathering dust  so we’re all very thankful to the Secretary for moving this forward,” Lopez revealed.

Room demand 

The report mentioned a projected high room demand in Central Luzon (22,327), CALABARZON region (16,738), Davao Region (12,321), and Bicol (11,597). Medium demand is seen in Metro Manila (7,242), and in Mindanao areas such as Sarangani & Cotabato (7,819), Surigao & Dinagat Islands (7,068), and CDO and neighboring provinces (6,967).

Lopez also stated that in order to effectively plan for different travel segments, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the specific amenities and services that they are seeking. This information will serve as a crucial tool and reference to make well-informed decisions.

But as the delays are all behind them now, the PHISAP reveals that the current room supply based on the Accommodation Capacity Survey (ACS), the Philippines offers a total of 18,818 accommodation establishments (AEs) with 335,592 available rooms in 2023 to 2024. 

Region 7 has the greatest number of AEs recorded at 2,607, followed by the Cordillera Administrative Region with 2,376, and then Region 1 with 1,895. The NCR logged the highest number of rooms with a total of 60,812, followed by Central Visayas with a total of 50,944 rooms. (See map below for the nationwide count).

The ACS is a biennial  survey conducted by the DOT to create an inventory of all AEs both accredited and non-accredited by the DOT nationwide.

Pipeline report

On the other hand, Leechiu Property Consultants, in partnership with PHOA last month, presented a detailed overview of the 2024 Philippine Accommodation Pipeline Report, encompassing Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The focus of the report was on upcoming projects that are either planned or currently in progress.

According to the report, hotel developers have committed to constructing 40,084 room keys across 158 hotels in the Philippines, with an expected completion timeline of the next six to seven years. This signifies a significant investment from private sector developers in the future of the industry, amounting to a total of 250 billion pesos in hotel construction commitments.

Alfred Lay, Director for Hotel, Tourism, and Leisure at Leechiu, highlighted that this pipeline represents the largest the hotel industry has ever seen and will result in the creation of numerous job opportunities. He stated that the 250 billion pesos investment will generate over 57,000 jobs in direct hotel operations and the construction industry.

The accommodation pipeline report indicates that Luzon leads the national pipeline with 85 accommodations and 20,118 room keys, with a focus on new hotels in Clark (2,098 keys) and over 8,000 keys in the National Capital Region (NCR). Visayas follows with 57 accommodations (18,830 keys), driven by leisure tourism in Boracay (3,625 keys), Mactan Island (4,786 keys), and Panglao Island (4,401 keys). Mindanao has 6 accommodation projects (3,138 keys), with major contributions from Davao (1,335 keys), Cagayan de Oro (917 keys), and Siargao (378 keys).

DOT plays catch up

The hotel developers commitment of 40,000 new room keys by 2030 will leave a gap of over 80,000 rooms to be filled. This begs for more pledges of support in catching up with the demand for hotel rooms, for the private sector to rise up to the challenge, and for DOT to provide the right incentives and accelerate the infrastructure to improve accessibilities leading to destinations. 

The PHOA, DOT combined effort may result in a positive outcome for the tourism industry. It is a litmus test for the private and public sectors to gain the synergy that will be the key for the Philippine tourism to be a globally competitive industry.