Hotels next to Boom
Cebu tourists limited because of lack of hotel rooms.
THE Philippines posted a record 13,939 rooms last year, a 9.9-percent increase from the 12,683 recorded in year earlier, Trent M. Frankum, general manager of CB Richard Ellis Philippines, Inc. (CBRE) said.But Frankum also said these additional hotel rooms are not enough to meet the growing demand for more rooms.
Citing the reports of the Philippine Travel Agencies’ Association (PTAA), he said the country has diverted over half-a-million foreign visitors to other destinations in 2006 because of facility problems in key tourist spots in the country. Owing to lack of hotel rooms and flights into the domestic tourist destinations, the tourism industry registered an income loss of $400 million.
“The accommodation capacity of Boracay and Cebu is maximized, which has become a constraint to growth and is contrary to the goals of government to increase the tourist arrivals,†Frankum said.