Philippines to spend 322 million USD on improving roads to tourism sites

Boracay beach in the Philippines (Photo: AFP)

Hanoi (VNA) – A member of the Philippine House of Representatives Marvin Rillo on January 15 said that the country will invest 17.7 billion pesos (322 million USD) in building and upgrading roads to tourism sites, which make the sites more accessible to visitors.

He said that the country needs to develop more roads and bridges to open tourism destinations to tourists across the archipelago.

Rillo added that the tourism and public works and highways departments have jointly identified projects that will be funded under the government's tourism road infrastructure programme.

In December 2022, the House of Representatives approved 34 bills that identify new tourism destinations across the country, including waterfalls, national parks, and caves.

The Philippines is improving connectivity and convenience to lure more tourists, including upgrading tourism infrastructure and digitalisation.

Specifically, the government plans to develop cruise tourism, hold regional travel fairs, develop tourism circuits and continue convergence with tourism-enhancing government agencies.

According to the Philippines' Department of Tourism, 2.65 million international travellers visited the Philippines in 2022, bringing the country a revenue of 208.96 billion pesos (3.8 billion USD).

In 2023, the country targets to welcome 2.6-6.4 million international visitors./.