Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara yesterday called on port authorities to fast-track the improvement of cruise ports and terminals in the country.

Angara noted that the country has become one of the emerging cruise destinations in Asia, but poor port infrastructure has been cited as one of the major constraints for the development of the cruise tourism in the country.

Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. bared this in a recent hearing of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Tourism (COCT).

“While we are all pushing for the development of our airports, let us not forget that a number of tourists also arrive by boat,” Angara said in a statement.

“Our archipelagic geography beams with immense opportunities for a cruise tourism industry to grow and flourish,” said Angara the vice-chair of the Senate tourism committee.

Based on the 2014 WEF Global Competitiveness Index, the Philippines’ port infrastructure ranks 101st out of 144, the lowest among ASEAN members while Singapore ranked 2nd, Malaysia 19th, Thailand 54th, Indonesia 77th, and Vietnam 88th.

“That our neighboring countries are way ahead of us only means that we need to double, quadruple even, our efforts. If we do not speed up infrastructure development, we’ll be missing out on a lot of opportunities,” Angara said.

“Clearly, the strong demand is there. We need to step up. Sayang naman kung tayo mismo ang humahadlang sa sarili nating paglago o pag-unlad (It would be such a waste if we ourselves hinder our own path to progress),” the senator added.

Department of Tourism (DOT) data has shown that sea tourist arrivals, mostly via cruises, rose to 52,820 passengers in 2014 from 41,624 in 2013 and 23,857 in 2012.

Last year, luxury cruise ships dropped anchor at local ports such as Costa Victoria, with over a thousand passengers, which visited Puerto Princesa in January; M/S Europa 2, with almost 300 passengers, which explored Bohol in January and March; M/S Costa Atlantica, with 2,600 passengers, which had a stopover in waters off Boracay in March; and, Star Cruises’ MV SuperStar Aquarius, with over a thousand passengers, which dropped anchor in Puerto Princesa in November.

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/inferior-ports-stalling-phs-rise-as-cruise-ship-destination/