Tourist convenience seen key to growing hospitality industry

THE PHILIPPINE government should increase direct flight connections and make mobility more convenient for visitors, a Thai Chamber of Commerce official said.

Panida Thepkanjana, a director at the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Erawan hospitality group director, told BusinessWorld on the Thaifex Horec Asia 2025 trade show in Bangkok that if these issues are addressed, Thai investors see potential in the Philippine hospitality industry.

“I think that for the tourists, the important thing is convenience in traveling,” she said, noting that Philippine geography requires people to fly around “because you have so many islands.

Nevertheless, she added, “We see the potential of the Philippine market.”

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that in 2023, Filipino tourist spending consisted of 19.3% hotels and restaurants, 17.1% on transportation and 16% on recreation and culture.

Erawan Group, which develops and operates hotels, has invested in more than 20 hotels in the Philippines, Ms. Thepkanjana said.

Last year, Philippine tourism receipts topped P760 billion, up 9.04% from a year earlier, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of P600.01 billion in 2019.

The US accounted for 947,891 visitors, boosted by nonstop flights from San Francisco to Manila offered by United Airlines, with Philippine Airlines also offering new nonstop service from Seattle.

Japanese arrivals rose 27% to 388,316, while visitors from China totaled 312,222, still significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Ms. Thepkanjana said the Philippine hospitality industry should also embrace new technology such as artificial intelligence to reduce operating costs.

“But the human touch is also still important. If you go to the hotel and nobody is there, then the feeling is different, right? But we can have AI for the back of the house, to achieve efficiencies in booking, in operations,” she said.

The Philippine Hotel Industry Strategic Action Plan 2023-2028, which was launched by the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Philippine Hotel Owners Association, Inc. in October, aims to close the Philippines’ 120,463-room gap by 2028.

According to the 2024 Philippine Accommodation Pipeline Report, private sector hotel developers have committed to 158 new accommodation projects, totaling 40,084 rooms and generating P250 billion in investment.

The DoT and Air France-KLM Group in December inaugurated direct flights between Manila and Paris.

Ms. Thepkanjana said more flights from budget airlines would encourage more travel to the Philippines.

“In one trip you have to pay maybe 30% for traveling costs,” she said. “But budget airlines are very cheap. More and more people now have the power to travel.”