Gordon says Tourism Act to benefit regions
BACOLOD CITY -- The enactment of the Tourism Act of 2007 will extend economic benefits to the Philippines, especially the Visayan islands, Sen. Richard Gordon said.
Addressing the Western Visayas Tourism Assembly here, Gordon said the bill, once enacted, would “usher in the unprecedented influx of new money into the country to finally allow our people to find their fortune in their native Filipinas, and not in foreign shores.”
A former secretary of the Department of Tourism, Gordon had crafted the proposed Tourism Act to upgrade the framework and the incentives for tourism in the Philippines.
“The proposed tourism Act of 2007 aims to provide a framework for the development of a national tourism policy,” Gordon said.
“This will in turn enable us to focus our resources toward maximizing the benefits tourism has to offer. It will further encourage increased investments in the form of tourism infrastructure to cope with the demands of the increasing number of tourists in the country.”
He stressed that the proposed act provides for incentives such as income tax holidays, minimal gross income tax rate, tax exemptions for certain capital equipment, goods and services, and deductions in the form of social responsibility incentives.
Other incentives are non-fiscal in nature, pertaining to employment of foreign nationals, special investors’ resident visas, foreign currency transactions, requisition of investments and lease of land.
Gordon declared that the Visayas would be among the regions that would benefit extensively from the passage of the Tourism Act of 2007.
He compared the Visayas to the Maldives, a Pacific nation of 26 atolls and 1,192 islets on the equator, which has greatly benefited from tourism despite its population of just 300,000 people.
Gordon told the tourism assembly members that because of tourism, Maldives by the 1980s after attaining independence of Britain, “experienced a whopping peak growth of 26.5% owing primarily to the tourism sector, which is the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner and biggest contributor to the GDP, at 20 percent.
Tourism in the Maldives created direct and indirect employment and income generation opportunities in various industries.”
According to Gordon, “With a larger area of 20,4408 square kilometers and a larger population of 6,1001, 038, the [Visayan] region has more reason to surpass the tourism achievements of the Maldives, especially considering that it already has the head start in terms of tourism and fisheries.”
In 2005 alone, Western Visayas received 1,599,670 tourists, which increased to 1,844,525 in 2006. Tourism receipts also exhibited an impressive increase from P29.4 billion in 2005, to P33.9 billion in 2006. The Tourism Act of 2007, once enacted into law, would maximize the benefits of tourism for the Western Visayas region and the entire country, Gordon stressed.
He explained that the benefits from tourism “will trickle down to the members of the population, as seen in the Maldives experience. Just as in that island paradise, the cottage industries of this region, such as weaving and rattan furniture, will also profit from the advances in tourism. More importantly, the international market will be aware of the other, more established components of the regional economy, such as mining and agriculture.”
“Tourism means jobs. Where tourism advances, poverty retreats,” said Gordon.
Addressing the Western Visayas Tourism Assembly here, Gordon said the bill, once enacted, would “usher in the unprecedented influx of new money into the country to finally allow our people to find their fortune in their native Filipinas, and not in foreign shores.”
A former secretary of the Department of Tourism, Gordon had crafted the proposed Tourism Act to upgrade the framework and the incentives for tourism in the Philippines.
“The proposed tourism Act of 2007 aims to provide a framework for the development of a national tourism policy,” Gordon said.
“This will in turn enable us to focus our resources toward maximizing the benefits tourism has to offer. It will further encourage increased investments in the form of tourism infrastructure to cope with the demands of the increasing number of tourists in the country.”
He stressed that the proposed act provides for incentives such as income tax holidays, minimal gross income tax rate, tax exemptions for certain capital equipment, goods and services, and deductions in the form of social responsibility incentives.
Other incentives are non-fiscal in nature, pertaining to employment of foreign nationals, special investors’ resident visas, foreign currency transactions, requisition of investments and lease of land.
Gordon declared that the Visayas would be among the regions that would benefit extensively from the passage of the Tourism Act of 2007.
He compared the Visayas to the Maldives, a Pacific nation of 26 atolls and 1,192 islets on the equator, which has greatly benefited from tourism despite its population of just 300,000 people.
Gordon told the tourism assembly members that because of tourism, Maldives by the 1980s after attaining independence of Britain, “experienced a whopping peak growth of 26.5% owing primarily to the tourism sector, which is the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner and biggest contributor to the GDP, at 20 percent.
Tourism in the Maldives created direct and indirect employment and income generation opportunities in various industries.”
According to Gordon, “With a larger area of 20,4408 square kilometers and a larger population of 6,1001, 038, the [Visayan] region has more reason to surpass the tourism achievements of the Maldives, especially considering that it already has the head start in terms of tourism and fisheries.”
In 2005 alone, Western Visayas received 1,599,670 tourists, which increased to 1,844,525 in 2006. Tourism receipts also exhibited an impressive increase from P29.4 billion in 2005, to P33.9 billion in 2006. The Tourism Act of 2007, once enacted into law, would maximize the benefits of tourism for the Western Visayas region and the entire country, Gordon stressed.
He explained that the benefits from tourism “will trickle down to the members of the population, as seen in the Maldives experience. Just as in that island paradise, the cottage industries of this region, such as weaving and rattan furniture, will also profit from the advances in tourism. More importantly, the international market will be aware of the other, more established components of the regional economy, such as mining and agriculture.”
“Tourism means jobs. Where tourism advances, poverty retreats,” said Gordon.
Labels: senator gordon, Tourism
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