Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco joined the economic team of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in heralding the various investment opportunities in the Philippines to the international business community.
The country’s government leaders made the pitch during the 2023 Philippine Economic Briefing at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, California.
Titled “Think Growth, Think Philippines.”, the PEB in San Francisco is one of the activities of the Philippine delegation on the sidelines of the President’s working visit to the United States of America (USA) for the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
In her remarks, Frasco shared the initiatives of the Marcos Administration to create a climate that is conducive to tourism investments.
“I am delighted to join all of you this morning in this gathering of business leaders and titans of industry here in the United States, the Philippines’ second top source market for tourism. So allow me to begin by saying thank you for your resounding support for Philippine Tourism,” the tourism chief said addressing an audience comprised of businessmen and government leaders, among others.
“Tourism is a priority.”
“As we usher in this golden era of tourism, the work of our President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has been to rally the entire nation, including the public and the private sector, from the national to the local government, across the entire tourism value chain, to articulate that tourism is a priority. This prioritization, and if I may quote our President, goes beyond the mere provision of economic opportunities and jobs. Rather, it stems from the deep love that all of us Filipinos have for our country,” the tourism head added.
Tackling how the government is transforming the Philippine landscape through the Build Better More Program, she highlighted the initiatives of the DOT towards tourism infrastructure development, with more than 158 kilometers of roads leading to tourism destinations built or rehabilitated this year with “more to come in 2023 and in the succeeding years”.
Frasco also cited the hard infrastructure projects of the Department, particularly the Tourist Rest Areas built in strategic areas across the country, as well as the “Filipinization” of the country’s airports and seaports in partnership with the Department of Transportation (DOTr), starting with the enhancement of the terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“We have trained frontline tourism workers in our airports and seaports in the Filipino brand of service excellence, this program of which as a whole has trained over 111,000 Filipino tourism workers across the tourism value chain.”
“In addition to this, we are also working with the DOTr to enhance other gateways, not only in terms of hard infrastructure, but more importantly soft infrastructure-human capital development. As a result, we have trained frontline tourism workers in our airports and seaports in the Filipino brand of service excellence, this program of which as a whole has trained over 111,000 Filipino tourism workers across the tourism value chain,” she noted.
The PEB in San Francisco is the 12th international PEB of the Marcos Administration and fourth in the USA.
Since the beginning of his administration in 2022, the Philippine economic team led by the President has held PEBs to showcase the country’s lucrative investment and business opportunities to the international business community.
