Government To Prioritize Development Of 85 Airports Across The Country

Written by Marc Adrian

The Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) held their first conference for the DOT-DOTr convergence program. This program prioritizes the development of more airports and which should be focused on first, to accommodate the demand for travel across the country.

During the conference, Tourism Undersecretary Arturo Boncato Jr. told reporters that they’re now focused on looking at least 85 airports all over the country and making sure that they are capable of receiving guests directly. In addition, he said that the government wants to develop even smaller airports that can accommodate and service tourists in a bid to complement operations of the bigger main gateways.

In he statement, he stressed that the country is currently relying on major gateways, which are Manila, Cebu, Davao, Clark.

“For example, if you want to fly directly to Siargao, an airport in Siargao is very important to be able to expand and accommodate the demand for travelers to come to that part of the country,” he said.

The two government agencies are also looking into tapping more sustainability indicators in the development of future airports, as the DOT pushes for a culture of sustainable tourism. Thus, Boncato confidently claimed that our airports are sustainable in many ways.

According to the tourism official, the development of the country’s airports and overall transportation development is in line with the goals of the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP).

Moving forward, Boncato cited the availability of the country’s airports as one factor that will help the country attract more tourists

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