San Vicente, Palawan hub to generate $30B in tourism revenues

The proposed tourism hub in San Vicente, Palawan is expected to generate at least $30 billion in tourism receipts in the next 15 years.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) director for Tourism Samie Lim said Thursday that the San Vicente Flagship Tourism Enterprise Zone (SVFTEZ) of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) is seen to attract six million foreign and 40 million domestic tourists.

The potential number of tourists translates to a potential revenue of P30 billion once the project is completed in 15 years.

Lim said that around 80% of the 14-kilometer stretch of the SVFTEZ is already sold and up for construction.

Investors are just waiting for the TIEZA to come up with specific incentives, Lim said.

"Almost 70 percent of the hotels in the Philippines are domestic brands. But in the next five years, 70 percent will be foreign brands. All those foreign brands are expected to bring in more tourists," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Investor Forum media briefing in Taguig City.

Some locatird have already started ground breaking on the hub, while construction for the entire SVFTEZ is expected to be in full swing in 2020.

For the first two years, at least 20 hotels would have been built, Lim said.

The SVFTEZ will feature attractions such as cottages and cabins along the long beach for the first cluster; the second cluster has a retail development hub; low-density accommodations and coves are in cluster 3; while the cluster 4 includes high-end beach accommodations. — MDM, GMA News