CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, PHILIPPINES – The ongoing upgrades of some of the Philippines key international and trunkline airports are an encouraging development which the country can capitalize on to score a quantum leap in its foreign tourists arrivals.
“The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is closely following the ongoing upgrades of the major gateways, particularly the privatization of various airports in the Philippines,” said Florian Gottein, ECCP Executive Director, on the sidelines of the ECCP Business Mixer Night held 28 April 2025 (Monday) at a new hotel.
With the theme: Expanding Networks, Creating Brighter Opportunities, the event brought together members of the ECCP Northern Mindanao Chapter for an evening of meaningful conversations, networking, and business opportunities.
“ASEAN is a very interesting destination not only for investments. but also for tourists,” Gottein noted. “Linking world famous ASEAN island destinations like Bali, Phuket and Sarawak with islands in the Philippines, makes it more affordable and convenient for travelers to stay within the region, instead of going direct from Europe to international gateways like Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.”
The three ASEAN destinations combined for approximately 20 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2024, compared to a paltry 980,996 for Cebu, Bohol and Northern Mindanao over the same period, a mere 5 percent of the three famous ASEAN destinations.
If airlines and tour operators consider including these three emerging VisMin destinations in their tour packages, even a 10% share of their current tourism traffic would already bring in 2 million foreign tourists, or approximately double what they attained in 2024.
Aboitiz InfraCapital has signed concessionary agreements for the management and expansion of key airports in the Visayas and Mindanao including the Metro Cebu International Airport (MCIA), Laguindingan International Airport in Misamis Oriental and the Bohol-Panglao Airport in Bohol.
Gottein remarked that direct air links between these emerging island destinations with those already well-established holds great potential and makes it easier and more convenient for foreign travelers to explore new places at a fraction of the cost of traveling directly from their own countries.
“Of course, the ultimate decision to develop tourist traffic rests with the airlines who will base their decisions on actual passenger traffic growth and trends,” he added.
As of December 17, 2024, the entire Philippines accounted for nearly 5.65 million international visitors, of which 5,175,599 (91.66%) were foreign tourists, and 470,752 (8.34%) were overseas Filipinos, according to figures from the Department of Tourism (DOT).
However, Gottein cautions that the tourism potential of emerging island destinations in the Visayas and Mindanao are still constrained by the travel advisories issued now and then by various foreign embassies based in Manila.
“The Mindanao-wide State of Calamity was only lifted last year. Working further to lift or reduce the adverse travel advisories which will be the basis for further developments will go a long way towards optimizing the tourism potential of these islands,” he added.
